Lady Franklin's Lament

( " The Sailor's Dream " )

1 'Twas homeward bound one night on the deep,
Slung in my hammock fast asleep,
I had a dream, which I thought was true,
Concerning Franklin and his bold crew.

2 'Twas as we neared the English shore,
I heard a lady sadly deplore;
She wept aloud, and seemed to say,
" Alas my husband is long away!

3 " 'Twas seven long years since that ship of fame,
First bore my husband across the main,
With hearts undaunted and courage stout
To seek a nor'western passage out;

4 " To seek a passage round the North Pole
With one hundred seamen brave and bold;
With hearts undaunted, and courage true,
'Tis what no man on earth can do.

5 " There's Captain Osborne of Scarborough town,
Brave Parry and Winslow of high renown,
There's Captain Ross, and many more,
In vain they cruised round the Arctic shore.

6 " They sailed East, and they sailed West,
Off Greenland's coast where they thought best;
'Mid hardships and dangers they vainly strove,
On mountains of ice their ships were hove.

7 " In Baffin's Bay where the whale-fish blows,
Is the fate of Franklin — no one knows.
Ten thousand pounds would I freely give,
To learn that my husband still did live.

8 " And to bring him back to a land of life,
Where once again I would be his wife, . . .
I would give all the wealth I ere shall have,
But I think, alas, he has found a grave.

9 " A voice within that I cannot control,
Is assurance to me of his peace of soul;
Oh, Arctic seas, what you have sealed
At the judgment-day will be revealed! "
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