 | Poems, original and translated |  |
SUNRISE ON THE SEA-COAST.
It was the holy hour of dawn:
By hands invisible withdrawn,
The curtain of the summer night
Had vanished; and the morning light,
Fresh from its hidden day-springs, threw
Increasing glory up the blue.
O sacred balm of summer dawn,
When odors from the new-mown lawn
Blend with the breath of sky and sea,
And, like the prayers of sanctity,
Go up to Him who reigns above,
An incense-offering of love!
By hands invisible withdrawn,
The curtain of the summer night
Had vanished; and the morning light,
Fresh from its hidden day-springs, threw
Increasing glory up the blue.
O sacred balm of summer dawn,
When odors from the new-mown lawn
Blend with the breath of sky and sea,
And, like the prayers of sanctity,
Go up to Him who reigns above,
An incense-offering of love!
Alone upon a rock I stood,
Far out above the ocean-flood,
Whose vast expanse before me lay,
Now silver-white, now leaden-gray,
As o'er its face, alternate, threw
The rays and clouds their varying hue.
I felt a deep, expectant hush
Through Nature, as the increasing flush
Of the red orient seemed to tell
The approach of some great spectacle,
O'er which the birds in heaven's far height
Hung, as entranced, in mute delight.
But when the sun, in royal state,
Through his triumphant golden gate,
Came riding forth in majesty
Out of the fleckèd eastern sky,
As comes a conqueror to his tent;
And, up and down the firmament,
The captive clouds of routed night,
Their garments fringed with golden light,
Bending around the azure arch,
Lent glory to the victor's march;
And when he flung his blazing glance
Across the watery expanse,—
Methought, along that rocky coast,
The foaming waves, a crested host,
As on their snowy plumes the beams
Of sunshine fell in dazzling gleams,
Thrilled through their ranks with wild delight,
And clapped their hands to hail the sight,
And sent a mighty shout on high
Of exultation to the sky.
Far out above the ocean-flood,
Whose vast expanse before me lay,
Now silver-white, now leaden-gray,
As o'er its face, alternate, threw
The rays and clouds their varying hue.
118
Through Nature, as the increasing flush
Of the red orient seemed to tell
The approach of some great spectacle,
O'er which the birds in heaven's far height
Hung, as entranced, in mute delight.
But when the sun, in royal state,
Through his triumphant golden gate,
Came riding forth in majesty
Out of the fleckèd eastern sky,
As comes a conqueror to his tent;
And, up and down the firmament,
The captive clouds of routed night,
Their garments fringed with golden light,
Bending around the azure arch,
Lent glory to the victor's march;
And when he flung his blazing glance
Across the watery expanse,—
Methought, along that rocky coast,
The foaming waves, a crested host,
As on their snowy plumes the beams
Of sunshine fell in dazzling gleams,
Thrilled through their ranks with wild delight,
And clapped their hands to hail the sight,
And sent a mighty shout on high
Of exultation to the sky.
| Poems, original and translated | |