The three fishers

Three fishers went sailing away to the west,
Away to the west as the sun went down;
Each thought on the woman who loved him the best,
And the children stood watching them out of the town;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And there's little to earn, and many to keep,
Though the harbour bar be moaning.

Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower,
And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down;
They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower,
And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and brown.
But men must work, and women must weep,
Though storms be sudden, and waters deep,
And the harbour bar be moaning.

Three corpses lay out on the shining sands
In the morning gleam as the tide went down,
And the women are weeping and wringing their hands
For those who will never come home to the town;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And the sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep;
And good-bye to the bar and its moaning.

by Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) , "The three fishers", from Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet An Autobiography

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Charles Ainslie Barry (1830-1915) , "The three fishers", published 1861. [voice and piano]
by Francis Boott (1813-1904) , "Three fishers went sailing out into the west", published 1858 [voice and piano], from Florence, no. 2.
by John Mais Capel (1862-1931) , "The three fishers", published <<1910. [voice and piano]
by Myles Birket Foster (1851-1922) , "Three fishers" [SA chorus and piano]
by Alan Gray (1855-1935) , "The three fishers", published 1883. [voice and piano]
by John Pike Hullah (1812-1884) , "The three fishers", <<1884. [voice and piano]
by Oliver A. King (1855-1923) , "The three fishers", op. 112, published 1907. [chorus and orchestra]
by George Alexander MacFarren (1813-1887) , "The three fishers", published c1866. [SATB chorus and piano]
by Hubert Oke , "The three fishers", published 1911. [voice and piano]
by Albert R. Parsons , "The three fishers", published <<1940. [voice and piano]
by Roland Rogers (1847-1927) , "Three fishers went sailing", published 1895. [SATB chorus a cappella]
by Ernest Walker (1870-1949) , "The three fishers", published 1903 [voice and piano], from Two songs, no. ?

by Mark Vladimirovich Mil'man (1910-) , unknown title, 1941, published 1945 [voice and piano], from Morskije pesni (Sea songs), no. ?

Date added to the website: 2009-01-11.

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