The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls Lyrics. The tide rises, the tide falls, The twilight darkens, the curlew calls; Along the sea-sands damp and brown. The traveller hastens toward the town, And the tide rises, the tide falls. Darkness settles on roofs and walls, But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls; The little waves, with their soft, white hands, Efface the footprints in the sands, And the tide rises, the tide falls.