Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ROVER O' LOCHRYAN, by HEW AINSLIE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ROVER O' LOCHRYAN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The rover o' lochryan he's gane
Last Line: "o' the waves that heaves us on."
Subject(s): Sea; Ocean


THE Rover o' Lochryan he's gane
Wi' his merry men sae brave;
Their hearts are o' the steel, and a better keel
Ne'er bowl'd owre the back o' a wave.
It's no' when the loch lies dead in his trough,
When naething disturbs it ava;
But the rack and the ride o' the restless tide,
Or the splash o' the grey sea-maw.

It's no when the yawl an' the light skiffs crawl
Owre the breast o' the siller sea,
That I look to the west for the bark I lo'e best,
An' the rover that's dear to me;
But when that the clud lays its cheek to the flood,
An' the sea lays its shouther to the shore;
When the win' sings high, and the sea-whaups cry,
As they rise frae the whitening roar.

It's then that I look to the thickening rook,
An' watch by the midnight tide;
I ken the win' brings my rover hame,
An' the sea that he glories to ride.
Oh, merry he sits 'mang his jovial crew,
Wi' the helm heft in his hand,
An' he sings aloud to his boys in blue,
As his ee's upon Galloway's land:

"Unstent and slack each reef an' tack,
Gie her sail, boys, while it may sit;
She has roar'd through a heavier sea afore,
An' she'll roar through a heavier yet.
When landsmen sleep, or wake an' creep,
In the tempest's angry moan,
We dash through the drift, and sing to the lift
O' the waves that heaves us on."





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