Two Points of View.
Terrible waves! In fierce, unearthly chorus
Ye threaten the frail vessel to entomb;
Still darker than the fearful storm-cloud o'er us,
Your yawning gulfs of death-portending gloom.
Beautiful waves! In joyous freedom dancing,
Ye burst like living things upon the strand;
Your snowy crests in the pure sunlight glancing,
Flash like a vision bright of fairy-land.
Oh, such are trials! All Earth's sons and daughters
Feel in them awful messengers of ire,
More dark and dread than ocean's troubled waters;
Death, and not Life, their horrors aye inspire.
Not so in Heaven! On that shore of gladness
Each past grief seems a blessing, and each pain
Hath lost the midnight hues of earthborn sadness,—
The once-dark waves gleam bright—each loss appears a gain.
