This edition was prepared by David Anderson — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
A Canadian Boat Song
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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A Canadian Boat Song by Arthur Foote — Lyrics
Faintly as tolls the evening chime
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time.
Soon as the woods on shore look dim,
We’ll sing at St. Anne’s our parting hymn.
Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
The Rapids are near and the daylight’s past!
Why should we yet our sail unfurl?
There is not a breath the blue wave to curl;
But, when the wind blows off the shore,
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About A Canadian Boat Song
The words of Arthur Foote’s A Canadian Boat Song paint a vivid scene of travellers on a river at dusk. As the evening deepens and the shore becomes indistinct, they sing a parting hymn, their voices and oars keeping time. The text speaks of the urgency of their journey, with rapids ahead and daylight fading, yet also includes a prayer for favourable winds and cool heavens as they anticipate resting. This setting for SATB voices in English captures the atmosphere of communal travel and hopeful prayer.
