THE WHITE SHIP

As I wandered so lonesome along the sea sand
A white ship came sailing afar from the land;
With the voices of dreamtime, and echoes of sleep,
Her captain was calling me over the deep.

"Oh come with me hither, and sail with the Dawn,
Forsake your lost cities and future unborn;
Though their rich walls are gilded, there rust lies beneath -
How soon is the Spring but the fall of a leaf."

But I loved my own mansions, possessed in my name,
With the wealth and pursuit of a fortune and fame;
Oh, would that I'd heeded those words of a dream
And glimpsed the fair lands where the star-kingdoms gleam.

The White Ship went drifting with mist on her helm;
She sailed above sunrise to the indigo realm
Where Time cannot touch her, nor years steal her soul;
As ether waves ebb and the galaxies roll.

She's gone with her shimmering windsails unfurled
To the infinite gulf at the edge of the world;
And I wander lamenting, each day of my life,
For her dream-shadow, melted, was lost to my sight.

And I wander, lamenting, all the days of my life.