Alfred Noyes

16 September 1880 – 25 June 1958 / Wolverhamton

Name Sakes

BUT where's the brown drifter that went out alone ?
-Roll and go, and fare you well-
' Was her name
Peggy Nutten?
' That name is my own.
Fare you well, my sailor.
They sang in the dark, ' Let her go ! Let her go ! '
And she sailed to the West, where the broad waters flow;
And the others come back, but . . . the bitter winds blow.
Ah, fare you well, my sailor.

The women, at evening, they wave and they cheer.
-Roll and go, and fare you well-
They're waiting to welcome their lads at the pier.
Fare you well, my sailor.
They're all coming home in the twilight below;
But there's one little boat. . . . Let her go ! Let her go!
She carried my heart, and a heart for the foe.
Ah, fare you well, my sailor.

The
Nell
and the
Maggie
, the
Ruth
and the Joan,

-'-Roll and go, and fare you well-
They come to their name-sakes, and leave me alone.
Fare you well, my sailor.
And names are kep' dark, for the spies mustn't know;
But they'll look in my face, an' I think it will show;
Peggy Nutten's my name. Let her go ! Let her go!
Ah, fare you well, my sailor.
134 Total read