 | Lyrics by John B Tabb |  |
40
A SIGH OF THE SEA.
“Why is it?” once the Ocean asked,
As on a summer's day,
Basking beneath a cloudless sky,
In musing rest he lay,
As on a summer's day,
Basking beneath a cloudless sky,
In musing rest he lay,
“Why is it, that, unruffled still,
The welkin's brow I see,
While mine, with racking wind and tide,
Deep-furrowed oft must be?
The welkin's brow I see,
While mine, with racking wind and tide,
Deep-furrowed oft must be?
“Her richest gems, by night displayed,
Man's filching grasp defy;
But safety for my treasures none,
Though buried deep they lie.
Man's filching grasp defy;
But safety for my treasures none,
Though buried deep they lie.
“The hands that from her diadem
In reverence recoil,
Are bold my depths to penetrate
And of their wealth despoil.
In reverence recoil,
Are bold my depths to penetrate
And of their wealth despoil.
“A thousand ships with cruel keel
My writhing waves divide,
But mariner hath never steered
Athwart her tranquil tide.
My writhing waves divide,
But mariner hath never steered
Athwart her tranquil tide.
41
“Why is it thus, that rest to her
And toil to me is given,—
That she the blessing ever meets,
And I, the curse of Heaven?”
And toil to me is given,—
That she the blessing ever meets,
And I, the curse of Heaven?”
The Ether heard. Through all her depths
A deeper azure spread,
And to the murmuring Ocean thus,
With radiant smile, she said:
A deeper azure spread,
And to the murmuring Ocean thus,
With radiant smile, she said:
“Who cleaveth to the earth, as thou,
Ne'er knows tranquillity;
Naught pulses in my bosom wide
But God, whose own am I.”
Ne'er knows tranquillity;
Naught pulses in my bosom wide
But God, whose own am I.”
| Lyrics by John B Tabb | |