I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.   I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.   I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

quo sitis ire mihi, nihil est nisi pontus et aer. ~~ nave petam celsa sidere fisus aquas! vela tremant, sonet Eurus, agat vis torva gubernum, ~~sit nova pulla dies, acre vapore mare. exagitant clarae surgenti gurgite voces: ~~Tethyos infaustum iussa negare deae! hoc satis est: canis moveantur nubibus aurae, ~~spuma volet ventis, carmine mergus ovet. me, Neptune, iuvant via mergi parsque balaenae, ~~ vita peregrini, saevior Eurus acu. sint mihi sermones hilares comitisque cachinni, ~~et, cum res fuerit, somnia amoena, sopor.