Three fishers went sailing away to the West--Away to the West as the sun went down;

Each thought on the woman who loved him 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 harbor-bar be moaning.

Three wives sat up in the light-house tower And trimmed the lamps as the sun went down;

They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower, And the night-wrack came rolling up, ragged and brown.

But men must work and women must weep, Though storms be sudden and waters deep, And the harbor-bar be moaning.

Three corpses lay out on the shining sands In the morning gleam as the tide went down, And the women are weeping and wringing their hands, For those who 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-by to the bar and its moaning.