Ballad Of The Winter Watchmen

               I.

     Two watchmen bold,

     When days were cold,

Or nights were wild and black,

     A hero each

     Patrolled the beach,

Nor courage did they lack,

Nor courage did they lack.

              Cho:

And both were young and fair,

And both had golden hair,

     And eyes of blue, and hearts so true,

              All fear would they decry;

     So what cared they

     For wind and spray,

They’d make their rounds or die,

     So what cared they

     For wind or spray,

They’d make their rounds or die!

           II.

Those watchmen twain,

     In snow or rain,

Thrice daily would be seen;

     They wound the clock

     Upon the dock,

And burned up gasoline,

And burned up gasoline.

              Cho:

Two weary, waiting wives,

Despaired those watchmen’s lives,

     And prayed each day death’s hand to stay

              With anxious, waiting eye;

But what cared they, for death, I say,

     They’d wind that clock or die,

But what cared they for death, I say,

     They’d wind that clock, they’d wind that clock,

They’d wind that clock upon the dock, or die.

Jan. 11, 1914