The sea's not what it was , he said. When I was a young lad ,
Then, when you went out fishing, there was something to be had:
But now you might as well let out the nets in the dry air,
For all the fish you're like to catch, because the fish aren't there.
The sea's not what it was , he said, as he put out that night —
And yet the sea had sunk his boat, and drowned him, by daylight.