Some Time Ago (On a Cold Winter Night)

Some time ago on a cold winter night 

I sat and I gazed out to sea. 
I saw a young girl in the mouth of a wave 
And I heard a voice calling to me. 

I threw myself in, I scarce felt the cold 

As I struggled and kicked against the tide 
And just as my strength was certain to fail 
I felt a warm hand at my side. 

Her eyes were a green that shone with the water. 

Her hair was all silver and flowed with the moon. 
With a smile so lonesome and a face so pale 
Gently she sang a sorrowful tune. 

Into my ears she whispered her song. 

I can’t remember the words. 
With the softest of lips, she gave me a kiss 
And I became lost in her verse. 

*** 

As if in a dream I drifted at sea. 

The hours and the minutes drifted too. 
I woke up aching on a beach of black stones 
And I lay there the whole morning through. 

Now a long time has passed but I still return 

To that ocean-side rock where I saw her. 
There’s some folks who say that she carries men down 
Into the depths of the water. 

There’s some folks who say that she’ll drag a man down 
Well I say to free him is far crueller.