Oh my love he works upon the sea On the waves that blow wild and free He splices the ropes and he sets the sail While southwards he roams to the home of the whale
And he ne'er thinks of me far behind Or the torments that rage in my mind He is mine for only part of the year Then I'm left all alone with only my tears
All ye ladies that smell of wild rose Think you for your perfume of where a man goes Think you of the wives and the babies that yearn For the man ne'er returns sleeping without a stone
Oh my love he works upon the sea On the waves that blow wild and free He splices the ropes and he sets the sail While southwards he roams to the home of the whale