Cheer up, cheer up, my mother dear! <br />Ah! Why do you sit and weep? <br />Do you think that he who guards me here, <br />Forsakes me on the deep? <br />Let hope and faith light up your glance, <br />When you see our ship set sail; <br />Look, look at her now, and see her dance; <br />Oh! Why do you turn so pale? <br />There's an English flag, and an English crew; <br />So, mother, be proud of your boy in blue. <br /> <br />Ah! Wonder not that, next to thee, <br />I love the galloping wave; <br />'Tis the first of coursers, bold and free - <br />And fit to carry the brave. <br />It may bear me on to a dark lee-shore, <br />To sink with a gallant band; <br />But early or late - here's a heart for my fate, <br />Let it come on the sea or the land. <br />The storm and the battle shall find me true, <br />So, mother, be proud of your boy in blue. <br /> <br />And if the breakers kill our ship, <br />And your boy goes down in the foam, <br />Be sure the last breath on his lip <br />Was a prayer for those at home. <br />But come, cheer up! methinks I heard <br />A voice in the anchor chain, <br />That whispered, like a fairy bird, <br />'The Ship will come again.' <br />God bless thee, mother, adieu, adieu! <br />But never weep for your boy in blue.<br /><br />Eliza Cook<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/song-of-the-sailor-boy/
