University of Virginia Library

Thou heard'st, and Earth exulted. Man! survey
Thy goodly realm. Oh, World! once hail'd of heav'n,
Chang'd tho' thy state, and waxing to decay,
And under condemnation of thy judge,
His glory yet rests on thee. Wherefore else
This beauteous theatre? why proudly tow'r
Yon mountains, and their frozen peaks and rocks,
Up whose bleak brow the pine-wood climbs, and strikes
Roots down the icy clefts, and heights whereon
The cedar spreads his prodigal arms abroad,
Gathering the tempest under: at their base,
Glens, down whose fring'd declivities prone floods
Rush ceaseless: then, gay interchange of land,
Smooth hill, and slope of dale, that kindly rear
The olive and the purple grape, and fruits
All kind, luxuriant. Champains wide succeed,
Rich meads, and golden harvests intersect
With populous realms, hamlets, and spreading towns,
By flow of rivers, that beneath the yoke
Of marble arcs majestic, sea-ward bear
The barter of mankind. And lo! the Main
Stretch'd boundless, and the multitude of isles
Gay-cluster'd, or lone rocks that beam afar,
And high above the tossing of the surge
Lift their green brows, and laugh amid the storm
Of ocean, as it roars with all its waves
Tempestuous.

But, how fitly laud in song
Thy wonders, World of Waters? How extoll
Thy beauty? Fair art thou, oh, summer Sea!
In still repose: and sweet thy crisped smiles,
When twilight, slowly fading off, withdraws
Its shadow from the water, and unveils
The smooth expanse, on whose far bound the sky
Rests its blue concave. Yellow daylight then
Spreads bright illumination: and the breeze,
In ripples on the sparkling billow, meets
The morn, where o'er the bosom of the Deep
Light vapours wreathe their many-colour'd forms.
Meantime, the sun, with orb of gold, half-ris'n,
Looks thro' the mist, and on, from wave to wave,
Levels the tremulous radiance, lighting up
Far off his western goal. Nor lovely less,
At still autumnal night-fall, after length
Of sultry hours, when the last little cloud
That hung o'er the departing day, has lost
Its roseate livery: and the last low breath
Of wind, that like the chanted vesper rose,
Dies off, and dewy coolness greets its close.
Gray twilight, then, and gradual gloom succeed,
Till, fully-orb'd 'mid heav'n's resplendent host,
These errant, those at rest, Regent of Night,
The moon walks forth in brightness: and each cliff,
Hoar tow'r, and wood that boldly breasts the tide,
Smile, touch'd with tremulous light, while 'neath her disc
The heave of ocean, like a silver globe,
Swells out dimensionless. Sweet then to pace
The shore: and, fancy-free, rekindle dreams
Of blissful childhood, and again pursue
Far sea-nymphs, in smooth dance, on gleams of light,
That o'er the wave like silver shadows glide,
Brush'd by the night-air's wing: or, in lone muse
Bow'd o'er the stillness of the deep, to dwell
On lov'd friends gone, till the sooth'd Spirit taste
Of their unearthly quiet.—

Then, oh, thou!
Sore smitten, prey of woe, or harsh neglect,
Or vex'd of worldly turbulence, awhile
Retire: and on the low and level sands,
When the soft moon-light seems to still the main,
List the smooth lapse of ocean. The soft light
Shall soothe thee, and the lulling lapse has pow'r
To steal thee from thyself. Or, boldly climb
Some headland, when the rising gale rings loud,
And as the chaf'd sea roars, yield all thy soul
To rapture: and allaying troublous thought,
In aspirations of the heart, adore
Th' Omnipotent. Forsaking thus, far off,
The worldly din, I woo lone thoughts that raise
The disincumber'd spirit: while 'mid woods,
Whose high tops never drank the briny spray,
Rapt Fancy, picturing the numbers, pours
Far ocean in, and, boldly dashing round
The roar of its wild waters, fitlier lauds
His might, whose Spirit mov'd upon the Deep.