The Bar
Henry Lawson, 1910
We tried to get over the Bar today,
Today on the morning tide;
And whether I go, or whether I stay
Let fate and the Bar decide;
But my Love — New Love — with your eyes of grey,
The weary world is wide!
We kedged her back and we poled her back
In time for the ebbing tide,
For the sky was grey and the rocks were black
And the rollers broke outside,
And its O My Love but the lines are slack,
And the weary world is wide.
We'd try to get over the Bar tonight,
Tonight on the highest tide;
But the moon is dull that last night was bright
And the world is dark outside,
O Love — New Love! — is your face so white,
And the weary world so wide?
We tried to get over the bar today,
Tomorrow we'll try again —
Oh, Love! New Love of the grey eyes, say
Is the strife of man in vain?
The glass might lie, and the needle stray,
But the path of love is plain!
When over the Bar, there is no return
In the time of the Autumn gales —
But whether the sea or the Bush it be,
The heart of a man prevails —
O Love! New Love, you may watch the sea
Where your Bushman sailor sails!
Note: "kedged" is to move ship by using a small anchor
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