| O MARY, go and call the cattle home, | |
| And call the cattle home, | |
| And call the cattle home, | |
| Across the sands of Dee.' | |
| The western wind was wild and dark with foam, | 5 |
| And all alone went she. | |
| The western tide crept up along the sand, | |
| And o'er and o'er the sand, | |
| And round and round the sand, | |
| As far as eye could see. | 10 |
| The rolling mist came down and hid the land: | |
| And never home came she. | |
| 'O is it weed, or fish, or floating hair— | |
| A tress of golden hair, | |
| A drownèd maiden's hair, | 15 |
| Above the nets at sea?' | |
| Was never salmon yet that shone so fair | |
| Among the stakes of Dee. | |
| They row'd her in across the rolling foam, | |
| The cruel crawling foam, | 20 |
| The cruel hungry foam, | |
| To her grave beside the sea. | |
| But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home, | |
| Across the sands of Dee. Image:An oil on canvas scene by by Robert Harris based on a poem - Two figures are seen in a boat searching for something in the water. At the bow of the boat, a face can be seen floating just out of the water. |
