A Life on the Ocean Wave is a poem-turned-song by the American poet and playwright Epes Sargent, published in 1838. It has been told that Sargent was walking one day on The Battery in New York City watching the ships enter the harbour. This scene inspired him to write a quite simple poem:
A life on the ocean wave! A home on the rolling deep!
Where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep;
Like an eagle caged I pine, On this dull, unchanging shore;
Oh give me the flashing brine, The spray and the tempest’s roar.
A life on the ocean wave, A home on the rolling deep,
Where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep.
The song was set to music by the Englishman Henry Russell (1812–1900), an entertainer and songwriter on both sides of the Atlantic. He travelled to USA in 1836, composing and performing many popular parlor songs before returning to England ten years later.
In 1882, it was requested that the Bandmasters of the three Royal Marine Divisions submit an arrangement for a new regimental march, if possible based on a naval song.
The Bandmaster of the Chatham division submitted an arrangement of A Life on the Ocean Wave, with an eight bar trio from The Sea by Sigismund Neukomm. This version was authorised for use as the regimental quick march of the Royal Marines.
The march became even more popular after Kenneth J. Alford, director of music at the Royal Marines from 1930, arranged it for military band in an expertly manner.
The sound clip is played by HM Royal Marines bands during a review on Horse Guard Parade in London: YouTube .
Transcriptions and descriptions are not AI-generated.
A Life on the Ocean Wave is a poem-turned-song by the American poet and playwright Epes Sargent, published in 1838. It has been told that Sargent was walking one day on The Battery in New York City watching the ships enter the harbour. This scene inspired him to write a quite simple poem:
