John Hill Hewitt - Ho! for a Rovers Life (Song of the Pirate)

Ho! for a rover's life,
Battle and stormy strife!
Fearless he braves
Wild wind and waves,
Like a prison'd bird set free!
Seeking the stormy deep,
Where mountain billows leap,
He's the monarch of the sea,
The monarch of the sea.
Moor'd in the friendly cove,
Oft turn his thoughts to love;
The dark-eyed maid,
Hears his serenade,
And is charm'd by his wild minstrelsy.

Listen sweet maid to thy lover's guitar,
While he worships thy beauty, thou bright southern star!
Come brave the ocean, belov'd one with me,
There's joy on the billows when smil'd on by thee.

A gun is heard!
All hands on board,
A sail appears out on the sea,
And we give her chase right merrily,
Hurrah! my boys, our guns tell true,
She strikes! Hurrah for the pirate crew!

Ho! for a rover's life,
Battle and stormy strife;
Fearless he braves
Wild wind and waves,
A rover's life for me--
A rover's life for me.

Thus sung the proud chief of the pirate crew,
As his trim schooner danc'd o'er the waters blue;
But soon thro' the mist was a warship spied,
With her teeth grinning death on either side,
"Stand, stand to your guns!-- nail our flag to your mast!"
Was the cry of the chief as the thunder roll'd past.
He falls!-- while the blood down his pale forehand runs,
And his sinking craft groans, he cries "stand to your guns!
Stand to your guns, my boys,
Stand to you guns, stand, stand, stand to your guns."