Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NAMESAKES by ALFRED NOYES

Poet Analysis

First Line: BUT WHERE'S THE BROWN DRIFTER THAT WENT OUT ALONE?
Last Line: AH, FARE YOU WELL, MY SAILOR.
Subject(s): HEARTS; SAILING & SAILORS; WIND;
BUT where's the brown drifter that went out alone?
@3-- Roll and go, and fare you well --@1
Was her name @3Peggy Nutten?@1 That name is my own.
@3Fare you well, my sailor.@1
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.
@3Ah, fare you well, my sailor.@1

The women, at evening, they wave and they cheer.
@3-- Roll and go, and fare you well --@1
They're waiting to welcome their lads at the pier.
@3Fare you well, my sailor.@1
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.
@3Ah, fare you well, my sailor.@1

The @3Nell@1 and the @3Maggie@1, the @3Ruth@1 and the @3Joan@1,
@3-- Roll and go, and fare you well --@1
They come to their namesakes, and leave me alone.
@3Fare you well, my sailor.@1
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!
@3Ah, fare you well, my sailor.@1



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