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 sinking into the depths of ocean. To the toil and the task we have to do, We shall sail securely, and safely reach T The sights we see, and the sounds we hear, Will be those of joy and not of fear!" 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, She leaps into the ocean's arms! And lo! from the assembled crowd With all her youth and all her charms! How beautiful she is! How fair She lies within those arms, that press Her form with many a soft caress Of tenderness and watchful care! Sail forth into the sea, O ship! Through wind and wave, right onward steer! The moistened eye, the trembling lip, Are not the signs of doubt or fear. Sail forth into the sea of life, Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! With all the hopes of future years, Are all with thee,- are all with thee! 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, 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. АH! what pleasant visions haunt me All the old romantic legends, All my dreams, come back to me. Sails of silk and ropes of sendal, And the answer from the shore! Most of all, the Spanish ballad Like the long waves on a sea-beach, Telling how the Count Arnaldos, How he heard the ancient helmsman That the sailing sea-bird slowly Till his soul was full of longing, And he cried, with impulse strong,"Helmsman! for the love of heaven, Teach me, too, that wondrous song!" 66 Wouldst thou," "—so the helmsman answered, "Learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers |