free-verse24 lines
Namesakes
by Alfred NoyesBut where's the brown drifter that went out alone?
--Roll and go, and fare you well--
Was her name Peggy Nutten? That name is my own.
Fare you well, my sailor.
They sang in the dark, "Let her go! Let her go!"
And she sailed to the West, where the broad waters flow;
And the others come back, but ... the bitter winds blow.
Ah, fare you well, my sailor.
The women, at evening, they wave and they cheer.
--Roll and go, and fare you well--
They're waiting to welcome their lads at the pier.
Fare you well, my sailor.
They're all coming home in the twilight below;
But there's one little boat.... Let her go! Let her go!
She carried my heart, and a heart for the foe.
Ah, fare you well, my sailor.
The Nell and the Maggie, the Ruth and the Joan,
--Roll and go, and fare you well--
They come to their namesakes, and leave me alone.
Fare you well, my sailor.
And names are kep' dark, for the spies mustn't know;
But they'll look in my face, an' I think it will show;
Peggy Nutten's my name. Let her go! let her go!
Ah, fare you well, my sailor.