I was a boy about your age If you can believe it When I lifted on a cool trade wind And never yet to leave it I had the love of a woman then If you can believe her So bless swift ships and honest men And the lass that loves a sailor I've shook hands with kings and thieves And lined my shirt with silver But not once in these 30 years Have I returned to see her When these planks and bolts make port Leave these ocean waters A fool is he, the man that leaves The lass that loves a sailor My lad Let the land and not the water Seal your grave