Lady of Vuelia

Farewell and adieu, you fair Vuelian lady,

Farewell and adieu, you bright-eyed delight,

For we’re bound off to sea, where the stars burn unsteady,

And the shore of your smile fades into the night.

We courted through summer by fountain and fire,

Your laughter was lilting, your kisses were wine,

But duty, like tempest, brooks no soft desire—

So I leave with the tide, though your hand once held mine.

O sing to the wind, you fair Vuelian lady,

Let it carry your song to this weather-worn hull,

And when moonlight lies still on the Bay of Etrady,

I’ll dream of your voice through the night ever dull.

No ring did I offer, no name did you ask,

Just a dance and a promise beneath chapel eaves—

But the sea calls me back to her fathomless task,

And love’s like the bloom that the autumn wind leaves.

So farewell and adieu, you fair Vuelian lady,

I carry no riches but verses and pain—

If I live through the squall and the brine doesn’t take me,

I’ll come sing you this song on the dock once again.