The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth With Sixteen Illustrations. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton |
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CORAL ISLANDS. |
 | The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth |  |
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CORAL ISLANDS.
Down in the Tropic sea,
Where the water is warm and deep,
There are gardens fairer than any bee
Ever saw in its honied sleep.
Where the water is warm and deep,
There are gardens fairer than any bee
Ever saw in its honied sleep.
Flowers of crimson bright,
And green, and purple, and blue,
In the waters deep which the golden light
Of the sun sinks softly through.
And green, and purple, and blue,
In the waters deep which the golden light
Of the sun sinks softly through.
And many a proud ship sails,
And many a sea-bird flies,
And fishes swim with silvery scales,
Above where that garden lies.
And many a sea-bird flies,
And fishes swim with silvery scales,
Above where that garden lies.
But the sailor only sees
The ocean barren and bare,
While the fishes know of wondrous trees
That bloom and blossom there.
The ocean barren and bare,
While the fishes know of wondrous trees
That bloom and blossom there.
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For whenever they choose, they dive
Where line and plummet fail,
To beds of flowers that feel and live
Like flowers in a fairy tale.
Where line and plummet fail,
To beds of flowers that feel and live
Like flowers in a fairy tale.
Down in the white sea-sand
They lead a rooted life,
Perhaps to be plucked by the pretty hand
Of the merman's dainty wife.
They lead a rooted life,
Perhaps to be plucked by the pretty hand
Of the merman's dainty wife.
You have seen the bright red stem
Of the wondrous coral tree;
But its living flowers—you saw not them—
They died beneath the sea.
Of the wondrous coral tree;
But its living flowers—you saw not them—
They died beneath the sea.
You have seen the coral white,
The ghastly skeleton;
But the living flowers were a fairer sight
That used to grow thereon.
The ghastly skeleton;
But the living flowers were a fairer sight
That used to grow thereon.
They die—those beautiful links
Between us and the flowers,
Which some despise, but the poet thinks
Most lovely pets of ours.
Between us and the flowers,
Which some despise, but the poet thinks
Most lovely pets of ours.
And the chain is made complete
Between our life and theirs,—
Between the lily pure and sweet,
And man with all his cares.
Between our life and theirs,—
Between the lily pure and sweet,
And man with all his cares.
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But not for their hues alone,
These gardens in the sea
Were by the ocean nursed and sown,
Or sung in verse by me.
These gardens in the sea
Were by the ocean nursed and sown,
Or sung in verse by me.
When the lovely flowers are dead,
And their substance wastes away,
Their skeletons lie on the ocean's bed
Like wrecks in slow decay.
And their substance wastes away,
Their skeletons lie on the ocean's bed
Like wrecks in slow decay.
And over their delicate bones,
The streams of the lower deep
Lay sand and shell and polished stones
In many a little heap.
The streams of the lower deep
Lay sand and shell and polished stones
In many a little heap.
And their descendants bloom
Above their parents' graves;
Like a child that plays on its father's tomb,
They live beneath the waves.
Above their parents' graves;
Like a child that plays on its father's tomb,
They live beneath the waves.
At last they perish too;
And the sea brings sand and shell,
And buries them kindly where they grew
Like soldiers where they fell.
And the sea brings sand and shell,
And buries them kindly where they grew
Like soldiers where they fell.
And this goes on and on,
And the creatures bloom and grow,
Till the mass of death they rest upon
Comes upward from below.
And the creatures bloom and grow,
Till the mass of death they rest upon
Comes upward from below.
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And reefs of barren rocks
In blue unfathomed seas,
Give rest to the feet of emigrant flocks,
But have no grass nor trees.
In blue unfathomed seas,
Give rest to the feet of emigrant flocks,
But have no grass nor trees.
But still the breakers break,
And white along the shore
The surf leaps high, and the waters make
Strong barrows as before.
And white along the shore
The surf leaps high, and the waters make
Strong barrows as before.
Like barrows made of old
For ancient British chiefs,
Wherein they lie with torques of gold,
Are those long coral reefs.
For ancient British chiefs,
Wherein they lie with torques of gold,
Are those long coral reefs.
For many a hundred miles
Those barren reefs extend,
Connecting distant groups of isles
With paths from end to end.
Those barren reefs extend,
Connecting distant groups of isles
With paths from end to end.
And when the tide is high,
It washes daily food
To hungry mouths, and greedily
Out comes the slimy brood.
It washes daily food
To hungry mouths, and greedily
Out comes the slimy brood.
Out of the waste of stone,
Like Roderick's merry men,
Out of the heather bleak and lone
In the gloomy Highland glen,
Like Roderick's merry men,
Out of the heather bleak and lone
In the gloomy Highland glen,
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Those swarming millions rise
From their little hollow caves,
And each looks out for a welcome prize
From the drifting of the waves.
From their little hollow caves,
And each looks out for a welcome prize
From the drifting of the waves.
And a thousand conscious flowers
Open their fleshy leaves
To the ocean spray, whose snowy showers
The thankful mouth receives.
Open their fleshy leaves
To the ocean spray, whose snowy showers
The thankful mouth receives.
Like the golden mouths that gape
In the thrush's happy nest,
Open those flowers of starry shape,
When the sea disturbs their rest.
In the thrush's happy nest,
Open those flowers of starry shape,
When the sea disturbs their rest.
But when the reef has grown
Above the highest tide,
It is a city of lifeless stone,
Whose citizens have died.
Above the highest tide,
It is a city of lifeless stone,
Whose citizens have died.
For they cannot bear to be
Where the waters never rise,
And each one lifted from the sea,
To the parching sunshine dies.
Where the waters never rise,
And each one lifted from the sea,
To the parching sunshine dies.
And bird, or wave, or wind
Brings other seeds to sow;
And on the rock new tenants find
A soil whereon to grow.
Brings other seeds to sow;
And on the rock new tenants find
A soil whereon to grow.
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And they have other wants
Than the flowers the ocean fed;
The hot sun nurses the living plants,
And withers up the dead.
Than the flowers the ocean fed;
The hot sun nurses the living plants,
And withers up the dead.
And then on the deepening mould
Of many a hundred years,
When the coral rock is green and old,
A stunted shrub appears;
Of many a hundred years,
When the coral rock is green and old,
A stunted shrub appears;
And grasses tall and rank,
And herbs that thickly teem
Out of the soil on a lake's green bank,
Or the margin of a stream.
And herbs that thickly teem
Out of the soil on a lake's green bank,
Or the margin of a stream.
Long ages pass—those isles
Have grown maturely fair;
Green forests wave, and summer smiles,
And human homes are there.
Have grown maturely fair;
Green forests wave, and summer smiles,
And human homes are there.
And in the sunset calms
Swim out with laughing ease,
Shoals of girls from Isles of Palms
In tranquil southern seas,—
Swim out with laughing ease,
Shoals of girls from Isles of Palms
In tranquil southern seas,—
The fairest, sweetest fruit
Of the coral's mighty work!
And still in the deep about the root
Of the rock those creatures lurk.
Of the coral's mighty work!
And still in the deep about the root
Of the rock those creatures lurk.
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Nothing on earth so small,
Nothing so weak and poor,
But may produce—if it work at all—
Results that shall endure.
Nothing so weak and poor,
But may produce—if it work at all—
Results that shall endure.
The simple men of old,
Who lived and died unknown,
Have left us things more manifold
Than reefs of coral stone.
Who lived and died unknown,
Have left us things more manifold
Than reefs of coral stone.
And we who work to-day
Shall leave results behind,
And build—not isle, nor reef, nor bay—
But the wondrous human mind.
Shall leave results behind,
And build—not isle, nor reef, nor bay—
But the wondrous human mind.
God uses humble hands
To do his bidding here:
The coral shapes extensive lands
Where barren waters were.
To do his bidding here:
The coral shapes extensive lands
Where barren waters were.
And we—myself and you—
However poor and mean,
Shall leave a sign as corals do,
To prove that we have been.
However poor and mean,
Shall leave a sign as corals do,
To prove that we have been.
| The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth | |