 | The Vale of Arden and Other Poems |  |
45
THE SEA
Eldest of singers, never-silent sea,Whether in robe of gray or changeful green
Thou chantest, or in mail of moonlight sheen,
No ear hath learnt thine open mystery.
Companion of the world's wide grief, by thee
We enter—gazing on thy tranquil mien,
Or hearkening to the tempest's hollow threne—
The echoing portals of eternity.
Whether on solemn shores advancing quires
Of surpliced waves raise the resounding psalm,
Or prostrate murmur prayer, thy voice avails
The pulse of man's disquietude to calm;
Mourner, whose long complaining never tires,
Soother, whose consolation never fails.
| The Vale of Arden and Other Poems | |