The Boatman

Levellers

The Boatman





If I could choose the life I pleased


Then I would be a boatman


Along the canals and the rivers free


No hasty words are spoken


My only law is the river breeze


Would take me to the open seas


If I could choose the life I pleased


Then I would be a boatman





If I could choose the life I pleased


Then I would be a rover


And if the road was not for me


Then I would choose another


Across the mountains and the valleys deep


I would take these weary feet


If I could choose the life I pleased


Then I would be a rover





But these things are so hard for me


I cannot choose my own destiny


And all the things that I want to see


Are so unclean





I wish I could choose the life I please


But I am not a free man


Others choose my destiny


But my will's never broken


I know someday I will be


Everything that I dreamed I'd be


If I could choose the life I pleased


I would be a boatman.