The Soldier's Wife

The Soldier's Wife The sea is rough, the land broken dry The day has come for the heart to sigh; As the drums resound from the hill-towers He marches with them one among hundred's number..... I watch him leave, standing beneath the bowers A lone tear swells from the corner of my eye! The corn is unripe, the meadows are yellow But his heart is strong as the wind that bellows; The music stops, they kiss the King's hand No one speaks and everything feels bland, Like the bile that rises in my throat; Lord knows when I will see his boat. Now that they have set sail to a distant shore; What tale will the sea bring, will they survive the gore? The little one twitches her toes, looks at her fingers, Unknown to her is the world of the Elders And as she smiles I hold her to my bosom, Father will come, I tell my blossom... Today, the hearth is warm, the heat in my heart the sheep well fed and the children in bed; I look at the sea it's waves shimmering in moonlight, it breaks on the shore with teasing delight, Twenty nights after, a word has flown, He will come, he will come home......