Lullaby to Erle Lyrics

Mothers have woven a black velvet ocean
And spread it between the night and day shores
So that children might sleep, gently rocked by the motion
Of waves beneath boats built by fathers like yours

With you safe aboard by the shore we will linger
And watch as your breathing it fills up the sail
You loosen the moorings, your grip on our finger
And leave on the velvet a silvery trail

Alone on the shore with our heart close to breaking
We stand in the wake as you glide from our reach
Calmed by the thought that the voyage your taking
Will bring you at dawning back safe to this beach

We cannot sail with you, be there to guide you
Or pilot your boat through the black of the night
But no ocean can keep you, no darkness can hide you
Away from our love and its undying light