Union Songs
The Sailor Home From the Sea
A poem by Dorothy Hewett©Dorothy Hewett 1963
Tune by Chris Kempster©Chris Kempster 1963
O cock of the morning
With a dream in his hand,
My love has come home
To the wonderful land.
He bursts through the door,
With his eyes like the sun,
And his kitbag crammed full
Of the treasures he's won.There's pearl shell from Broome,
And a tall Darwin tale,
And coral and clam,
And the jaws of a whale.
And my kitchen is full
Of the smell of the sea,
And the leaping green fishes
My love brings to me.O tumble your treasures
From Darwin to Broome,
And fill with your glory
This straight little room.
With the sun in the morning
Ablaze on his chest
My love has come home
From the North of Nor'West.And deep in our bed
We'll love and we'll lie,
We'll kiss and we'll listen
To the rain in the sky.
Warm as the summer
We've hived winter long,
My love has come home
Like King Solomon's song.
Notes
Many thanks to Merv Lilley for permission to add this poem to the Union Songs collection. It was published in What About The People a collection of poems by Dorothy Hewett and Merv Lilley published by the National Council of the Realist Writers in 1963
It is sung here by Alison Jones accompanied by Chris Kempster and recorded at their home for the MUA centenary CD 'With These Arms'
union songs..........a selection by mark gregory