| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. | | | | The Three Fishers | | | | Charles Kingsley (1819–75) | | | | | | THREE fishers went sailing out into the West, | | | Out into the West as the sun went down; | | | Each thought on the woman who lov’d him the best; | | | And the children stood watching them out of the town; | | | For men must work, and women must weep, | 5 | | 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 they trimm’d the lamps as the sun went down; | | | They look’d at the squall, and they look’d at the shower, | 10 | | And the night rack 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 | 15 | | 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— | 20 | | And good-by to the bar and its moaning. | | | | |
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