It's midnight on the stormy deep
My solitary watch, I keep
And think of her I left behind
And ask if she still true and kind

I never shall forget the day
That I was forced to go away
In silence, there my head she'd rest
Then pressed me to her loving breast

Saying "Willy, don't go back to sea
There's other girls as good as me
But none can love you true as I
Oh, don't go where the bullets fly"

And for today, a letter came
In her own hand was her sweet made
But then my soul was filled with wreck
As these heart-breaking lines I read

The deep, deep sea may us divide
And I may be another's bride
But still my thoughts will oft times stray
To you, although you're far away

I never have proved false to her
The heart I gave was true and kind
But she has proved untrue to me
And I can no longer call her mine
Then fare-thee-well I'd rather make
My home upon some icy lake
Where the southern sun refuse to shine
Then to trust a love that's false as thine