As up and down the beach we flit,
One little sandpiper and I.
Above our heads the sullen clouds
Scud, black and swift, across the sky;
Like [silent ghosts in misty shrouds]
Stand out the white lighthouses high.
Almost as far as eye can reach
I see the [close-reefed vessels] fly,
As fast we flit along the beach,
One little sandpiper and I.