 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
199
THE SEA-NYMPH'S SONG.
Sound is he sleeping
Far under the wave,
Sea-nymphs are keeping
A watch for the brave:
Deep was our grief and wild—
Wilder our dirge
When the doomed Ocean Child
Drowned in the surge.
Far under the wave,
Sea-nymphs are keeping
A watch for the brave:
Deep was our grief and wild—
Wilder our dirge
When the doomed Ocean Child
Drowned in the surge.
Within a bright chamber
His form we have laid;
With spar, pearl, and amber
The walls are arrayed—
Though high rolls the billow,
He wakes not at morn,
And sponge for his pillow
From rocks we have torn.
His form we have laid;
With spar, pearl, and amber
The walls are arrayed—
Though high rolls the billow,
He wakes not at morn,
And sponge for his pillow
From rocks we have torn.
I heard thy name spoken
When down came the mast,
His hold was then broken—
That word was his last.
A picture is lying,
Lorn maid! on his breast—
That picture in dying
His hand closely prest.
When down came the mast,
His hold was then broken—
That word was his last.
A picture is lying,
Lorn maid! on his breast—
That picture in dying
His hand closely prest.
Why turns thy cheek paler
These tidings to know?
The truth of thy sailor
Should lessen thy woe:
The wave could not chill it
That stifled his breath;
Pure love—can aught kill it?
Give answer, oh, Death!
These tidings to know?
The truth of thy sailor
Should lessen thy woe:
The wave could not chill it
That stifled his breath;
Pure love—can aught kill it?
Give answer, oh, Death!
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |