Spake, with accents mild and clear, Of the sailor's heart, All its pleasures and its griefs, And lift and drift, with terrible force, "Like unto ships far off at sea, Floats and swings the horizon's bound, And climb the crystal wall of the skies, As if we could slide from its outer brink. It is not the sea that sinks and shelves, That rock and rise With endless and uneasy motion, Now touching the very skies, Now sinking into the depths of ocean. To the toil and the task we have to do, Then the Master, With a gesture of command, Waved his hand; And at the word, Loud and sudden there was heard, All around them and below, The sound of hammers, blow on blow, She starts, she moves,-she seems to feel And, spurning with her foot the ground, How beautiful she is! How fair She lies within those arms, that press Of tenderness and watchful care! Through wind and wave, right onward steer! Are not the signs of doubt or fear. Sail forth into the sea of life, Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee,—are all with thée ! THE EVENING STAR. JUST above yon sandy bar, As the day grows fainter and dimmer, Lonely and lovely, a single star Lights the air with a dusky glimmer. Into the ocean faint and far Falls the trail of its golden splendour, And the gleam of that single star Is ever refulgent, soft, and tender. Chrysaor rising out of the sea, Showed thus glorious and thus emulous, Leaving the arms of Callirrhoe, For ever tender, soft, and tremulous. Thus o'er the ocean faint and far Trailed the gleam of his falchion brightly; Is it a God, or is it a star That, entranced, I gaze on nightly! THE SECRET OF THE SEA. AH! what pleasant visions haunt me All the old romantic legends, All my dreams, come back to me. Sails of silk and robes of sendal, Such as gleam in ancient lore; And the singing of the sailors, And the answer from the shore ! Most of all, the Spanish ballad Haunts me oft and tarries long, Of the noble Count Arnaldos And the sailor's mystic song. Like the long waves on a sea-beach, Flow its unrhymed lyric lines; Telling how the Count Arnaldos, Steering onward to the land;- And he cried, with impulse strong,"Helmsman! for the love of heaven, Teach me, too, that wondrous song!" "Wouldst thou," so the helmsman answered, "Learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers Comprehend its mystery!" In each sail that skims the horizon, I behold that stately galley, Hear those mournful melodies; Till my soul is full of longing And the heart of the great ocean TWILIGHT. THE twilight is sad and cloudy, Flash the white caps of the sea. But in the Fisherman's cottage Close, close it is pressed to the window, Were looking into the darkness, And a woman's waving shadow Now rising to the ceiling, Now bowing and bending low. What tale do the roaring ocean, And the night-wind, bleak and wild, As they beat at the crazy casement, Tell to that little child? And why do the roaring ocean, And the night-wind, wild and bleak, As they beat at the heart of the mother, Drive the colour from her cheek? SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. SOUTHWARD with fleet of ice Sailed the corsair Death; Wild and fast blew the blast, And the east-wind was his breath. His lordly ships of ice Glistened in the sun; On each side, like pennons wide, Flashing crystal streamiets run. His sails of white sea-mist Dripped with silver rain; But where he passed there were cast Eastward from Campobello Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed; Three days or more seaward he bore, Then, alas! the land-wind failed. Alas! the land-wind failed, And ice-cold grew the night; And never more, on sea or shore, Should Sir Humphrey see the light. He sat upon the deck, The Book was in his hand; "Do not fear! Heaven is as near," In the first watch of the night, Out of the sea, mysteriously, The fleet of Death rose all around. The moon and the evening star Every mast, as it passed, Seemed to rake the passing clouds. F |