Sailor sailor got ashore
For the first time in a score
For twenty years he’s lived in water
His entire short life
Sailor sailor he sang a song
O mama give me back to the blue waves!
She will not answer him
The good ship Lizbeth
Sailor sailor go back home
Look how this wild shore is bare
With its sharp-edged stones it will tear
the membrane between your fingers to shreds
Translated by Daniel Weissbort