Poems (Dorr)/Three Laddies

by Julia Caroline Dorr

THREE LADDIES

O sailors sailing north,
 Where the wild white surges roar,
And fierce winds and strong winds
 Blow down from Labrador—
Have you seen my three brave laddies,
My merry red-cheeked laddies,
Three bold, adventurous laddies,
 On some tempestuous shore?

O sailors sailing south,
 Where the seas are calm and blue,
And light clouds and soft clouds
 Are floating over you,
Say, have you seen my laddies,
My three bright, winsome laddies,
My brown-haired, smiling laddies,
 With hearts so leal and true?

O sailors sailing east,
 Ask the sea-gulls sweeping by;
O sailors sailing west,
 Ask the eagles soaring high,
If they have seen my laddies,
My careless, heedless laddies,
Three debonair young laddies,
 Beneath the wide, wide sky?

O sailors, if you find them,
 Pray send them back to me;
For them the winds go sighing
 Through every lonely tree—
For these three wandering laddies,
My tender, bright-eyed laddies,
The laughter-loving laddies,
 Whom they no longer see.

There are three men who love me,
 Three men with bearded lips;
But oh! ye gallant sailors
 Who sail the sea in ships—
In elf-land, or in cloud-land,
 Or on the dreamland shore,
Can you find the little laddies
 Whom I can find no more?
Three quiet, thoughtful laddies,
Three merry, winsome laddies,
Three rollicking, frolicking laddies,
 On any far-off shore?