After Carrickfergus
A wish is lost
in the ocean sleeping,
and ships that sail never bring love back;
the summer’s past, for all my weeping,
and roses fall in winter’s frost.
A wish is dead
as soon as spoken,
and I would follow if I could.
The word you gave me then is broken,
and I cannot see the way ahead.
For the sea is wide,
and the years yawn wider,
the salt stings cold as any tears,
and the stars look down, a mute reminder
of all that rolled out on the tide.
And it leaves no trace
on the sands of morning,
your parting promise to return,
but I’d give a world, the sun adorning,
to glimpse again your sea-soft face.
The Four Swans 
There are so many wonderful versions of this song. Your verse catches the essence. (K)
LikeLike
Thank you. It is a good song. The versions are often very different too. I think it was originally an English ballad but I don’t know the name, then Carrickfergus was the Irish version, The Sea is Wide is an American version with the same tune as the Breton version Ar Mor Divent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know it first as The Water is Wide–recorded by many American folk singers. But I’ve also heard other variations from some of the British Irish Scottish folk groups of the 60s and 70s. A good song has many roots and branches.
LikeLike
It does. I think often folk music and folk lore share more common human roots than any ideology.
LikeLiked by 1 person
lovely take on one of my favourite Irish songs!
LikeLike