Lines to Mary

DESCRIPTION: A sailor, homeward bound from the Sea of Ochotsk, "thinking of home, your friends love, and thee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1863 (source: Frank-JollySailorsBold)
KEYWORDS: homesickness love separation sea ship Russia sailor nonballad
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Frank-JollySailorsBold 14, "Lines to Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4689
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Believe Me, Dearest Susan" (form)
NOTES [121 words]: Frank says, "This is a variant of the beautiful shipboard reverie known to Joanna Colcord as 'Believe Me, Dearest Susan,' expressing a sailor's lonliness and anticipation with respect to a woman ashore: both are distinguished by an unusual format, having three six-line stanzas in which the final couplet of each expresses a lyrical, homeward-wishing fidelity" (Frank-JollySailorsBold p. 33). Steve Roud assigns both songs the same number: #4689. However, as they don't share even one line I do not believe that they are versions of the same song. - BS
The reference to the Sea of Okhotsk is peculiar; it would seem to imply that the singer is either an explorer or a Pacific whaler. But it doesn't seem specific about it. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: FJSB014

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