G'day Ros P,

I checked the words in Songs of Sydney Carter - In the present tense - 3 and came up with this slightly corrected version:

PORT MAHÓN
(Sydney Carter)

In Port Mahón,I went down to the harbour
A tall ship from England came up to the quay,
I fell in love with a young English sailor
But he only laugh'd and he whispered to me:
From Port Mahón , I'll soon be gone;
Laughing or weeping, the world will go on.

To Port Mahón came the order one morning
To haul up the anchor and not to delay.
And so the tall ship sailed away from the harbour,
But still in my heart I could hear my love say:
From Port Mahón , I'll soon be gone;
Laughing or weeping, the world will go on.

To Port Mahón came the news of a battle,
But never, oh never, a letter for me.
And many a tall ship came back to the harbour,
But never the one that I waited to see.

The years went by and I married another,
And many a woman would like to be me.
But sometimes I lie in my bed and I listen
To the sound of the wind and the sound of the sea,
And think of the sailor who once said to me:
From Port Mahón , I'll soon be gone;
Laughing or weeping, the world will go on.

Sydney Carter, © 1962

I guess that the differences are small ... but they make for a more personal feel to the woman's words (OK - maybe I just hear Sydney Carter - or Carole Pegg - singing those words!

Regards,

Bob Bolton