Alexander Wilson

The Fisherman’s Hymn

THE OSPREY sails above the sound,
  The geese are gone, the gulls are flying;
The herring shoals swarm thick around,
  The nets are launched, the boats are plying;
    Yo ho, my hearts! let ’s seek the deep,        
      Raise high the song, and cheerily wish her,
    Still as the bending net we sweep,
      “God bless the fish-hawk and the fisher!”

She brings us fish—she brings us spring,
  Good times, fair weather, warmth, and plenty,        
Fine stores of shad, trout, herring, ling,
  Sheepshead and drum, and old-wives dainty.
    Yo ho, my hearts! let ’s seek the deep,
      Ply every oar, and cheerily wish her,
    Still as the bending net we sweep,        
      “God bless the fish-hawk and the fisher!”

She rears her young on yonder tree,
  She leaves her faithful mate to mind ’em;
Like us, for fish, she sails to sea,
  And, plunging, shows us where to find ’em.        
    Yo ho, my hearts! let ’s seek the deep,
      Ply every oar, and cheerily wish her,
    While the slow bending net we sweep,
      “God bless the fish-hawk and the fisher!“