Homeward Bound.

No moon to-night!
But stars shine bright
And freshly blows the breeze:
And by their light,
The good ship tight
Speeds home across the seas.
She's Homeward Bound!
No dearer sound—
To sailor's ears so sweet—
Has e'er been found
The whole world round
To make his glad heart beat.
Tho' sails be torn
Off bleak Cape Horn,
Joy fills the sailor's heart:
By fair winds borne
One summer morn
She signals off the Start.
And then, what tho'
The east winds blow!
The tug-boat lifts her scope:
Jack sings "Yo ho!
Clew up and stow,
The girls haul on the rope."
From "Shadows of Sails,"

By John Anderson.