William Henry Davies

The Call of the Sea

The Collected Poems of William H. Davies

And well they love to stand and hear

The old seafaring men that fear

Land more than water; carts and trains

More than wild waves and hurricanes.

And they will walk with love and pride

The tattooed mariner beside—

Chains, anchors on his arm, and ships—

And listen to his bearded lips.

Ay, they will hear the Sea’s vexed cry

Haunting their houses till they die.