For gentleness and love and trust Thou too, sail on, O Ship of State ! With all the hopes of future years, Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, 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, Shewed 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 my dreams, come back to me. Sails of silk and ropes of sendal, Most of all, the Spanish ballad Of the noble Count Arnaldos Like the long waves on a sea-beach, With a soft, monotonous cadence, Telling how the Count Arnaldos, How he heard the ancient helmsman Chant a song so wild and clear, That the sailing sea-bird slowly Poised upon the mast to hear, 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!" "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 Sends a thrilling pulse through me. TWILIGHT. THE twilight is sad and cloudy, But in the fisherman's cottage Close, close it is pressed to the window, As if those childish eyes Were looking into the darkness, To see some form arise. And a woman's waving shadow Now bowing and bending low. What tale do the roaring ocean, |