[Verse]
I had a silver penny and an apricot tree
And I said to the sailor on the white quay
‘Sailor, o sailor, will you bring me
If I give you my penny and my apricot tree
A fez from Algeria, an Arab drum to beat
A little gilt sword and a parakeet?’

Well, he smiled and he kissed me as strong as death
I saw his red tongue and I felt his sweet breath
‘You may keep your penny and your apricot tree
And I’ll bring your presents back from sea
From over the sea'

The ship dipped down on the rim of the sky
And I waited while three long summers went by
Three long summers went by

Then one morning on the white quay
I saw a great ship come in from sea
Slowly she came across the bay
And her flashing rigging was shot away

And all around her wake, the seabirds cried
They flew in and out of the hole in her side
Slowly she came into the path of the sun
I heard the sound of a distant gun
Of a distant gun
And a stranger came running up to me
From the deck of the ship, and he said, said he
‘O are you the boy who would wait by the quay
With a little silver penny and the apricot tree?
I’ve a plum-coloured fez and a drum for thee
I've got a sword and a parakeet from over the sea.’

‘Where is the sailor with bold red hair?
And what is that volley on the bright air?'
'And where are all the other girls and boys?
Why have you brought me children’s toys?
Brought me children's toys'