University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
 

collapse section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TO THE OCEAN.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


69

TO THE OCEAN.

Ye blue waves which flow at my feet,
Say where do your glad waters hide;
'Mid the coral-caves haste ye to meet,
Or back to the Nautilus glide?
Oh! never thy brightness again
Will whiten the spot where I tread;
Swift ye hasten back—back to the main,
To the fathomless deeps ye are fled.
Oh! wilt thou one hope or one fear
Bear up on thy oft-changing breast?
I have shed o'er thy bosom a tear,
I have hail'd thee a haven of rest.
Wilt thou seek other lands,—other skies,
Nor leave one kind message for me?
I have breathed to the salt waves my sighs;
I have pray'd still in turning to thee.

70

'Twas a tear for the loved—for the lost—
A sigh from the worn spirit riv'n,
Awhile o'er thy waves to be tost,
While the prayer-thought ascended to Heaven.