"A Life on the Ocean Wave" is a poem-turned-song by Epes Sargent published in 1838 and set to music by Henry Russell. It is the iconic Regimental March of His Majesty's Royal Marines.

Origin of the poem and song

One day Sargent was walking on The Battery in New York City watching the ships enter the harbour. This scene inspired Sargent to write a poem, which Russell later put to music. The song soon became popular in both the United Kingdom and the United States.[1]

Lyrics

A life on the ocean wave!
A home on the rolling deep!
Where the scatter'd waters rave, and the winds their revels keep;
Like an eagle cag'd I pine,
On this dull, unchanging shore;
Oh give me the flashing brine,
The spray and the tempest's roar.

(Chorus)
A life on the ocean wave,
A home on the rolling deep,
Where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep,
The winds, the winds, the winds their revels keep,
(the winds, the winds, the winds their revels keep).

Once more on the deck I stand,
Of my own swift gliding craft,
Set sail! and farewell to the land,
The gale follows fair abaft!
We shoot thro' the sparkling foam,
Like an ocean bird set free;
Like the ocean bird, our home
We'll find far out on the sea.

(Chorus)
A life on the ocean wave,
A home on the rolling deep,
Where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep,
The winds, the winds, the winds their revels keep,
(the winds, the winds, the winds their revels keep).

The land is no longer in view,
The clouds have begun to frown;
But with a stout vessel and crew,
We'll say, let the storm come down.
And the song of our hearts shall be,
While the wind and the water rave.
A life on the heaving sea,
A home on the bounding wave.

(Chorus)
A life on the ocean wave,
A home on the rolling deep,
Where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep,
The winds, the winds, the winds their revels keep,
(the winds, the winds, the winds their revels keep).

History of cultural uses of the song

At an 1851 celebration in Salem, Massachusetts, the Boston Cadet Band gave the new clipper ship Witch of the Wave a lively sendoff by striking up "A Life on the Ocean Wave" as the SS R. B. Forbes towed the new clipper out to set sail for Boston.[2]

The tune, slightly altered, provides the music for the Latter-day Saint hymn "Who's On The Lord's Side?"[3]

References

  1. ^ Cleaveland, Nancy (2009). "A Life on the Ocean Wave". Pioneer Girl, Fact and Fiction of Laura Ingalls Wilder, A to Z. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2015. A Life on the Ocean Wave was published in 1847, having been conceived while Epes Sargent was walking on the Battery in New York. He wished it could be put to music, but was told by a friend that it wasn't suitable. When Sargent showed the words to Henry Russell, he dashed to the piano and almost immediately put the words to music, and the song became popular in both England and America.
  2. ^ Clark, Arthur H. (1910). The Clipper Ship Era, An Epitome of Famous American and British Clipper Ships, Their Owners, Builders, Commanders, and Crews, 1843-1869. Camden, ME: G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 166–169.
  3. ^ "Who's On The Lord's Side?" (Hymn 260), Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985.

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