The Sailor Boy by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

He rose at dawn and, fired with hope,
Shot o'er the seething harbor-bar,
And reach'd the ship and caught the rope,
And whistled to the morning star.


And while he whistled long and loud
He heard a fierce mermaiden cry,
`O boy, tho' thou art young and proud,
I see the place where thou wilt lie.

`The sands and yeasty surges mix
In caves about the dreary bay,
And on thy ribs the limpet