Roger Whittaker has long been my favorite male singer, and amongst his original works is The Last Farewell, the lamentation of a young man off to war. Following the original song lyrics, I am including my sequel, Beyond the Last Farewell. I have tried to match the tempo to that of the original tune.
The Last Farewell
(R.A. Webster/Roger Whittaker)
There's a ship lies rigged and ready in the harbor. Tomorrow for old England she sails,
Far away from your land of endless sunshine, to my land full of rainy skies and gales.
And I shall be aboard that ship tomorrow, though my heart is full of tears at this farewell,
For you are beautiful, and I have loved you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
For you are beautiful, and I have loved you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
I heard there's a wicked war a-blazing and the taste of war I know so very well.
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell.
I have no fear of death, it brings no sorrow. But how bitter will be this last farewell,
For you are beautiful, and I have loved you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
For you are beautiful, and I have loved you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
Though death and darkness gather all about me, and my ship be torn apart upon the sea,
I shall smell again the fragrance of these islands in the heaving waves that brought me once to thee.
And should I return safe home again to England, I shall watch the English mist roll through the dell,
For you are beautiful, and I have loved you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
For you are beautiful, and I have loved you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
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Beyond the Last Farewell
(David Pawson)
It's two long lonely years since we were parted, two years together we have been denied.
How I yearn to finish that which we once started and return to stand forever by your side.
Yet eternity in limbo has consigned me to this torment that I know so very well.
For you are beautiful, and I still love you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
For you are beautiful, and I still love you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
Divided by the conflict of the ages, I feel my life's become an empty shell;
The battle separating us still rages and my lonely heart is now my prison cell:
Though death should come and break the chains that bind me, I shall find no peace in heaven or in hell:
For you are beautiful, and I still love you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
For you are beautiful, and I still love you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
Are you alive and well? Do you still love me? I assure you that my love's still burning true.
I hope and pray that you're still thinking of me: not a minute passes I don't think of you.
Should I return again one day you'll find me forever under your unbroken spell.
For you are beautiful, and I still love you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
For you are beautiful, and I still love you dearly, more dearly than the spoken word can tell.
