When

I dwell in the western inland,
 Afar from the sounding sea,
But I seem to hear it sobbing
 And calling aloud to me,
And my heart cries out for the ocean
 As a child for its mother's breast,
And I long to lie on its waters
 And be lulled in its arms to rest.

I can close my eyes and fancy
 That I hear its mighty roar,
And I see its blue waves splashing
 And plunging against the shore;
And the white foam caps the billow,
 And the sea-gulls wheel and cry,
And the cool wild wind is blowing,
 And the ships go sailing by.

Oh, wonderful, mighty ocean!
 When shall I ever stand,
Where my heart has gone already,
 There on thy gleaming strand!
When shall I ever wander
 Away from the inland west,
And strand by thy side, dear ocean,
 And rock on thy heaving breast?