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THE THREE FISHERMEN.
 
Three fishers went sailing out into the West,
Out into the West as the sun went down,
Each thought of the woman who loved him the best,
And the children stood watching them out of the town;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And there's little to earn, and many to keep,
Though the harbour-bar be moaning.
 
Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower,
And trimmed the lamps as the sun went down,
And they looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower,
And the rack it came rolling up, ragged and brown;
But men must work and women must weep,
Though storms be sudden, and waters deep,
And the harbour-bar be moaning.
 
Three corpses lay out on the shining sands,
In the morning gleam, as the tide went down,
And the women are watching and ringing their hands,
For those that will never come back to the town;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And the sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep,
And good-bye to the bar and its moaning.
 
CHARLES KINGSLEY.
 
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