I have in my memory slightly different words to verse two, as:

Where ere thou goest, the words of love
Say all that words can say
Changeless affections strength to prove,
But speed thee on thy way.


However, I still can't quite fathom the meaning, or at least I can't fathom (note the nautical term used here) how the first three lines connect to the "but" in line four. As a sometimes wordy lyricist myself, it bothers me to have that disconnect. I remember someone singing it in yet another version (mine comes from the singing of Dick Swain) where that last line connected better, but damned if it could stick in my mind enough to evict the version I first learned, so there you go.

'Course, I could just look it up in Huntingon, but I don't have the book here at work.

Bob Clayton