Marine Poems

[a_little_wisp]

So, I've always had a fascination with the ocean (ok, I know, who doesn't?). I live by the ocean and still love the ocean. When I was a little girl, I used to name the waves and feed them seashells.

...

They appreciated my efforts.

Over the years, then, I found myself writing more and more about the ocean. I didn't really mean to, it just happened. All of these are songs - some began as tunes and I added words later. So starting with my first one, Siren's Lure, written when I was helping my grandparent's clean their house abooout five years ago. Bring Home, Bring Home may have been a little earlier. They're very simple.


Siren's Lure

A warning to ye noble lads
Who journey off the shore,
For though you search for something great
You may find something more -
For the ocean's lullaby,
The sea's sweet song,
A siren's lure -
Can give you all that's in your dreams,
She'll give you something more.


Tomorrow when you journey forth
Be sure to bring your wiles -
You may need them to face the task
Of sailing over miles.
Your ship she comes to me
Across the way, oh mates, ahoy!
You may have your wiles
But darling, dear, you're still a boy.


Ahoy, young lads, bring forth your load
Of virtue and of honor's code -
I'll wipe your burdens free for you
And you'll pay me your due.


A warning to ye noble lads
Who journey off the shore
For though you search for something great
You may find something more -
For the ocean's lullaby,
The sea's sweet song,
A siren's lure -
Can give you all that's in your dreams,
She'll give you something more.


She sang to them,
Oh aye, she sang,
And all they knew was she -
She knew their every dream and wish,
Called forth their fantasies-
Saw to it that their pain was spared,
Dispersed them of all care -
Oh poor boys, oh precious dears,
You've fallen deep into my snare.


Ahoy, young lads, bring forth your boat
We'll end this on a pleasant note!
Did love ever sound this sweet?
Come now and be my treat.


-hmm-
For the ocean's lullaby,
The sea's sweet song,
A siren's lure-
Can give you all that's in your dreams
She'll give you something more.


A siren is not cruel, nor kind
Nor is she fearsome beast.
To live as us, she must feed,
And on us she must feast.


Listen, young lads, the song she sings
For you, will never cease -
So in your grave, beneath the waves,
May you find release.

A warning to ye noble lads
Who journey off the shore
For though you search for something great
You may find something more -
For a siren's appetite,
A sailor's flesh,
And dying breath-
You've asked for dreams,
But now it seems,
That she'll give you your death.


And

Bring Home, Bring Home:
A Sea Chanty

Windswept waves, I sing to you,
And you call out to me.
I hold my heart below the clouds
Upon the stormy sea.

Bring home, bring home
My lover dear,
Bring home, bring home,
To me,
Bring home, bring home,
This lonely year,
My lover home to me.

Of him, I sing, from Erin's way
To him, I sing each day,
He holds my heart, my lover dear,
Yet he can never stay.

He loves, he loves
The wide blue sea,
He loves, he loves,
He's free...
He loves, he loves
To sail the sea,
And then come home to me.

Oh, then he anchors in the bay,
My waiting ends ashore-
For love has come and it will stay,
And he shall sail no more.

"Promise, promise,"
I begged of him,
"Promise, promise
To me...
That if you love me
More than She
Than you'll stay home with me."

Yet She gives more than I could give,
I watch him sail away -
I'll love no more, and cry no more
Nor wait another day.

Bring him, bring him
Great happiness,
Take him, take him
Away...
For you have won,
Dear ocean blue,
His heart he gave to you.

For you have won,
Dear ocean blue,
His heart he shares with you.

[kevinthediltz]

Bring home, bring home makes me think of a bunch of Irishmen singing in a pub. :lol:
As usual, they are both beautiful.

[~Sophia~]

Ah, the ocean, she is a wonderful muse. I like the second version of Siren's Lure better. It's tighter and flows sweeter.

In my head I heard "Bring Back My Bonnie To Me" in your second song. The lilt screams for an Irish Rovers band!

Nice!!

[Lokasenna]

Both very beautiful - they've both got a folksy, old-world feel to them.

[PrinceMyshkin]

So, I've always had a fascination with the ocean (ok, I know, who doesn't?). I live by the ocean and still love the ocean. When I was a little girl, I used to name the waves and feed them seashells.

...

They appreciated my efforts.

Over the years, then, I found myself writing more and more about the ocean. I didn't really mean to, it just happened. All of these are songs - some began as tunes and I added words later. So starting with my first one, Siren's Lure, written when I was helping my grandparent's clean their house abooout five years ago. Bring Home, Bring Home may have been a little earlier. They're very simple.


Siren's Lure

A warning to ye noble lads
Who journey off the shore,
For though you search for something great
You may find something more -
For the ocean's lullaby,
The sea's sweet song,
A siren's lure -
Can give you all that's in your dreams,
She'll give you something more.


Tomorrow when you journey forth
Be sure to bring your wiles -
You may need them to face the task
Of sailing over miles.
Your ship she comes to me
Across the way, oh mates, ahoy!
You may have your wiles
But darling, dear, you're still a boy.


Ahoy, young lads, bring forth your load
Of virtue and of honor's code -
I'll wipe your burdens free for you
And you'll pay me your due.


A warning to ye noble lads
Who journey off the shore
For though you search for something great
You may find something more -
For the ocean's lullaby,
The sea's sweet song,
A siren's lure -
Can give you all that's in your dreams,
She'll give you something more.


She sang to them,
Oh aye, she sang,
And all they knew was she -
She knew their every dream and wish,
Called forth their fantasies-
Saw to it that their pain was spared,
Dispersed them of all care -
Oh poor boys, oh precious dears,
You've fallen deep into my snare.


Ahoy, young lads, bring forth your boat
We'll end this on a pleasant note!
Did love ever sound this sweet?
Come now and be my treat.


-hmm-
For the ocean's lullaby,
The sea's sweet song,
A siren's lure-
Can give you all that's in your dreams
She'll give you something more.


A siren is not cruel, nor kind
Nor is she fearsome beast.
To live as us, she must feed,
And on us she must feast.


Listen, young lads, the song she sings
For you, will never cease -
So in your grave, beneath the waves,
May you find release.

A warning to ye noble lads
Who journey off the shore
For though you search for something great
You may find something more -
For a siren's appetite,
A sailor's flesh,
And dying breath-
You've asked for dreams,
But now it seems,
That she'll give you your death.

I prefer this to the following perhaps because one has read too many poems about lost love. Maybe reading the above first - with its glorious command of ballad structure and the spontaneous-sounding flow - maybe that had jaded me for more rhyming metered verse at just this time.

But if I may presume: beyond the pleasures I got from the above verses was the joy I sensed in the act of making a poem! Few, I think, will miss that you are a natural poet, whatever the heck that means.



Rhyme on, rhyme on,
O little wisp,
for this I sense:
you’d rather rhyme
than inappropriately
be kissed!



And

Bring Home, Bring Home:
A Sea Chanty

Windswept waves, I sing to you,
And you call out to me.
I hold my heart below the clouds
Upon the stormy sea.

Bring home, bring home
My lover dear,
Bring home, bring home,
To me,
Bring home, bring home,
This lonely year,
My lover home to me.

Of him, I sing, from Erin's way
To him, I sing each day,
He holds my heart, my lover dear,
Yet he can never stay.

He loves, he loves
The wide blue sea,
He loves, he loves,
He's free...
He loves, he loves
To sail the sea,
And then come home to me.

Oh, then he anchors in the bay,
My waiting ends ashore-
For love has come and it will stay,
And he shall sail no more.

"Promise, promise,"
I begged of him,
"Promise, promise
To me...
That if you love me
More than She
Than you'll stay home with me."

Yet She gives more than I could give,
I watch him sail away -
I'll love no more, and cry no more
Nor wait another day.

Bring him, bring him
Great happiness,
Take him, take him
Away...
For you have won,
Dear ocean blue,
His heart he gave to you.

For you have won,
Dear ocean blue,
His heart he shares with you.

[a_little_wisp]

Kevin, thank you so much! There have been nights when my best friend Katie and I sit down with drinks and sing our ballads, harmonizing and whatnot and wibbling over the particularly sad songs. I hold to it that Irish folk songs taught me how to write music.

Sophia - I agree with you. It does seem that way now. Now, however, I'm going to have "Bring Back My Bonnie To Me" in my head all day long. If you'd like, I can upload the tune onto a site and you can hear how both songs sound? Thank you very much, again! :D

(I'll tell the ocean you called her wonderful, she'll like that. :D )

Lokasenna,
Both very beautiful - they've both got a folksy, old-world feel to them.

Thank you very much, and good. I've always thought that I was a traveling minstrel born 1000 years too late. :D *Strums lute*

Prince, I don't even know what the heck that means, but thank you! I think!? :lol: ... And I don't know if I had a good time writing Siren's Lure, or if I was really frustrated with it. It's gone through a lot of revisions since the first, that's for sure. However, I have always loved the story.



Rhyme on, rhyme on,
O little wisp,
for this I sense:
you’d rather rhyme
than inappropriately
be kissed!

I don't know, who's doing the kissing? :lol:

As for the rhyming, weeeell! When I wrote:

Come with me
And dance my love
Into a starlit sky -
The moon hangs high,
Above us, love
And spies on you and I.

As promising
As time will pass
I find your constancy
And if you doubt,
Or fear you lack,
Come dance again with me.

- It didn't rhyme first and Katie had a serious problem with the repetition of 'love' in the first stanza. Katie was very upset by the whole thing because she feels that poems should rhyme in order to be fun (which is why she doesn't like some of my more recent ones). I would disagree, however, even though some of my poems have turned out pretty well when I've revised them to rhyme.

[a_little_wisp]

*I have no idea where this part comes from, but it's not mine, and if someone recognizes it, I would be grateful if you would hit me up. It was a short poem in a short story we read in fifth grade. I never found the story, and the only reason I remembered these few lines are because I made a little tune to go with them. Many years later, I gave them my own story, but would never claim those lines as my own. ^^

Sorry, Prince, another poem about a lost lover. :/


I'll Marry My Love

"I'll marry my love, the deep blue sea
And carry him in my pocket!
I'll marry my love, and carry my love-
A wonderful wave in my pocket!"*

I loved a fine sailor
Who sailed the blue seas,
Who spread his ship's sails
And captured the breeze.

He told me he loved me
Two rings would we share,
He'd sail here to marry
His darling, his fair.

"I''ll marry my love, the deep blue sea
And carry him in my pocket!
I'll marry my love, and carry my love-
A wonderful wave in my pocket!"

The ship fought the rough winds
It rocked and it tossed
And before the sun rose
My sweet love was lost.

The ocean's his grave
But my mem'ries of him
Are deep in my heart
And will e'er after swim -

The ocean's his soul,
And its song is his heart,
It beats on the shore
Where it never will part.
I'll carry him always -
The seashells I wear,
Are his gift to his lover,
His darling, his fair.

"I'll marry my love, the deep blue sea
And carry him in my pocket!
I'll marry my love, and carry my love-
A wonderful wave in my pocket!"

(We were singing this once, I thought I'd add, and I tricked Katie after

The ocean's his soul,
And its song is his heart,
It beats on the shore
Where it never will part

- That verse, by singing:

"His ankle's the jetty
I stand on each day
His ribs are the coral
I find in the bay.

His nose is an island,
His face is a reef -"

Now it's not a very sad poem anymore.)

[~Sophia~]

I can upload the tune onto a site and you can hear how both songs sound? Oooh, that would be great. Especially if they are your own tunes! What a talented young woman you are! http://www.websmileys.com/sm/cool/271.gif

[PrinceMyshkin]

I can upload the tune onto a site and you can hear how both songs sound?http://www.websmileys.com/sm/cool/271.gif

Hey, Wispy, you want more songs to sing? Check out

http://www.myspace.com/cottars
or
http://www.thecottars.ca/

See if you can find the album entitled "Made in Cape Breton," 'Specially the song "I know who is sick" with the Whoo that sold me on this group!

[easyeverett]

I enjoy the journeys you take me on little wisp. Your creative flow is
filled with wonder and today the sea wins the love as has been told
since Summerian sailors sailed away. Super write. easy

[a_little_wisp]

Roll Me Back

Oh, men who know the ocean's way
Take this girl to the sand -
To wander o'er the great wide world,
To know the ways of land.

I'll miss the toss of her blue curls,
Her sweetly sweeping songs-
For in her ever-open arms,
Is where my soul belongs.

Oh, let the waves roll me back
To the place where I belong,
Let the wind carry far
This lonely seeker's song -
And let the cry of the seabird
Echo in my heart
As I journey far and wide
And make myself a part
Of the land.

Those sweet ladies o'er there,
They'd like to marry well-
To catch them a fine sailor,
And kiss him a farewell.

Well, I'd rather see the world
And then return to the sea
To the man who holds my heart,
And shares his joys with me.

Let the wind carry me
To the place where I belong,
Let the waves roll to him
This lonely seeker's song -
And let the call of the siren
Never reach his heart
As I journey far and wide
And make myself a part
Of the world.

Lift off, cast my sails!
Spread their white-winged glory
To the wind!

And when all my searching's done,
And I've conquered on the earth,
Then I surely will return
To the shoreline of my birth
Where the ocean sings her song,
And that man still waits for me-
I find where I belong,
On an endless stretch of sea-

Let the waves carry me
Back to the place where I belong,
Let the wind whisper to him
His lonely lady's song -
And let the cry of the seabird
Echo in his heart,
To tell him that: "The journey ends
When a new one takes a start."

Let the waves roll us back
To the wide and open sea,
Let the wind carry far
This gypsy's melody -
And let the cry of the seabirds
Echo in our hearts
As we leave on the next tide
To make ourselves a part

Of our home on the waves
Where the sun is known to play
Casting rays of his gold
On warm and sunny days-
And when the storms blow us over
We'll sing to Her good grace!
And never fear each temperament
On Her wide and open face!

Sha-la lee la
Lalala!
Sha-la lalala...

http://www.fine-art.com/members/34669/images/Oil_Painting_Big_Ship_Sailing_on_the_Ocean.jpg

[AuntShecky]

All of these cry out for a songsmith to put them to music.

[a_little_wisp]

That's a very lovely thing to say, Aunt Shecky! Thank you! They have been put to music by myself, but not by a songsmith. :lol:

[firefangled]

You are so good at these. I'm amazed. I would imagine you also have a great sense for a tune.