Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience

I had a silver penny and an apricot tree

And I said to the sailor on the white quay

"Sailor, oh, 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 the 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 gray 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

Then a stranger came running up to me

From the deck of the ship, and he said, said he

"Oh, are you the boy who would wait by the quay

With a little silver penny and the apricot tree?

Well, I've got a blue-colored 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