Songs of Sea and Sail

<h2>THE TRADE-WIND'S SONG.</h2> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I am the wind that the seamen love&mdash;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I am steady, and strong, and true;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">They follow my track by the clouds above</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">O'er the fathomless tropic blue.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">For close by the shores of the sunny Azores</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Their ships I await to convoy;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">When into their sails my constant breath pours</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">They hail me with turbulent joy.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I bring them a rest from the tiresome toil</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of trimming the sail to the blast;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">For I love to keep gear all snug in the coil</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the sheets and the braces all fast.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the deck to the truck I pour all my force,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">In spanker and jib I am strong;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">For I make every course to pull like a horse</span><br/> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</SPAN></span></p> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">And worry the great ship along.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">As I fly o'er the blue I sing to the crew,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who answer me back with a hail;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I whistle a note as I slip by the throat</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of the buoyant and bellying sail.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I laugh when the wave leaps over the head</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">And the jibs thro' the spray-bow shine,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">For an acre of foam is broken and spread</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">When she shoulders and tosses the brine.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thro' daylight and dark I follow the bark,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I keep like a hound on her trail;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'm strongest at noon, yet under the moon</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I stiffen the bunt of her sail;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wide ocean thro' for days I pursue,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till slowly my forces all wane;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then in whispers of calm I bid them adieu</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">And vanish in thunder and rain.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, I am the wind that the seamen love&mdash;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I am steady, and strong, and true;</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">They follow my track by the clouds above</span><br/> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</SPAN></span></p> <span style="margin-left: 3em;">O'er the fathomless tropic blue.</span><br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />