 | Songs of the sea, with other poems |  |
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SONGS OF THE SEA.
THE LIGHT OF THE LIGHTHOUSE.
I.
The closing of a day in June,Mild, beautiful, and bright!
The setting sun, the crescent moon,
Mingling their doubtful light!
The west wind brings the odor sweet
Of flowers and new-mown hay;
While murmuring billows at our feet
Breathe of the salt sea spray.
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II.
We stroll along the wide sea-beach,A ladye faire and I,
And con what Nature's page may teach
In ocean, earth, and sky.
And, as across the waters blue,
With roving glance we gaze,
A light springs suddenly to view—
It is a beacon's blaze!
III.
O, lambently the new-born flameDisparts the purple air;
In childlike wonder we exclaim,
To see a sight so fair.
“How bright,” the ladye saith, “its ray
Shoots o'er the tranquil tide!
Now listen to the tale, I pray,
With yonder shaft allied.
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IV.
“Upon that island's narrow ledgeOf rocks with sea-weed strown,
Fringed by the thinly-scattered sedge,
The lighthouse towers alone.
There, 'mid the sea's perpetual swell,
The dash of breakers wild,
Two solitary beings dwell—
A father and his child!
V.
“Three years ago, no friendly lightAcross the dark reef beamed;
A white flag on the rocky height,
The only signal, streamed.
Poor Francis Lorne had then a wife,
And he had children five;
He led a fisherman's bold life,
And merrily did he thrive.
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VI.
“It was on Independence Day,To Mary Lorne he said,
‘My sloop is rocking in the bay,
Our flag at her mast-head.
Come, gentle wife, your work throw down,
And, children, come with me;
And we'll all take a trip to town,
This day's great sights to see.
VII.
“‘On board! on board! Fair blows the gale;My boat is swift and strong;
With streamers gay and loosened sail,
How will she sweep along!
The sky is clear and beautiful,
Bright gleams the breezy morn;
We'll skim the blue waves like a gull!
We will!’ said Francis Lorne.
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VIII.
“O, joyful heart, exult not so!Mistrust that prospect fair;
It is the lure of death and woe,
The ambush of despair!
That night the storm, in wild array,
Clove through the billows dark,
And, in a cloud of foam and spray,
Rushed on the fated bark.
IX.
“The morning's dim, unconscious smile,That hushed the raging blast,
Disclosed upon that rock-bound isle
Two forms the surge had cast.
There, folded to the father's breast,
His youngest daughter lay;
They are but two—where be the rest?
Ye ruthless billows, say!
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X.
“Alas for him! From death-like sleep,When memory was recalled,
He could not groan—he could not weep—
His reason was appalled!
A grief, that blanched his sun-burnt face,
Thenceforth upon him grew—
A grief that time could not erase,
And hope could not subdue.
XI.
“And when, at length, on yonder spot,Was reared the lighthouse spire,
To him was given the lonely lot
To tend the beacon fire.
There, from the busy world apart,
Its clamor and its care,
He lives, with but one human heart
His solitude to share.
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XII.
“But O, Aurora's crimson light,That makes the watch-fire dim,
Is not a more transporting sight
Than Ellen is to him!
He pineth not for fields and brooks,
Wild-flowers and singing birds,
For Summer smileth in her looks,
And singeth in her words.
XIII.
“A fairy thing, not five years old,So full of joy and grace,
It is a rapture to behold
The beauty of her face!
And O, to hear her happy voice,
Her laughter ringing free,
Would make the gloomiest heart rejoice,
And turn despair to glee!
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XIV.
“The ocean's blue is in her eyes,Its coral in her lips;
And, in her cheek, the mingled dyes,
No sea-shell could eclipse!
And, as she climbs the weedy rocks,
And in the sunshine plays,
The wind that lifts her golden locks
Seems more to love their rays.
XV.
“When the smoothed ocean sleeps unstirred,And, like a silver band,
The molten waters circling gird
The island's rim of sand,
She runs her tiny feet to lave,
And breaks the liquid chain;
Then laughs to feel the shivered wave
Coil down to rest again.
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XVI.
“And, when the black squall rends the deep,The tempest-cradled maid,
To see the white gulls o'er her sweep,
Mounts to the balustrade:
Above her head and round about,
They stoop without alarm,
And seem to flout her threatening shout,
And her up-stretching arm.
XVII.
“Once, Francis sought the neighboring town,And she was left alone;
When such a furious storm came down
As never had been known.
‘My child!’ the wretched parent cried;
‘O friends, withhold me not!
The bravest man, in such a tide,
Would quail on that bleak spot.’
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XVIII.
“He strove, till faint and out of breath,His fragile boat to gain;
But all knew it was certain death
To tempt the hurricane:
And wilder grew the tempest's power,
And doubly black the night,
When, lo! at the appointed hour,
Blazed forth that beacon-light!
XIX.
“The sea-fog, like a fallen cloud,Rolled in and dimmed its fire;
Roared the gale louder and more loud,
And sprang the billows higher!
Above the gale that wailed and rang,—
Above the booming swell,
With steady and sonorous clang,
Pealed forth the lighthouse bell!
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XX.
“Warned by the sound, ships inward boundAgain the offing tried;
And soon the baffled Tempest found
His anger was defied:
The billows fell, the winds, rebuked,
Crept to their caverns back;
And placidly the day-star looked
Out from the cloudy rack.
XXI.
“Bright through the window-panes it smiledUpon the little bed,
Where, wrapped in slumber deep and mild,
Ellen reposed her head.
Her friends, her father seek the place;
Good saints have watched her charms!
Her blue eyes open on his face,
And she is in his arms!”
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XXII.
The voice was mute, the tale was told;Sacred be my reply!
Along the wide sea-beach we strolled,
That ladye faire and I.
Blessed, ever blessed and unforgot,
Be that sweet summer night!
And blessings on that wave-girt spot,
The lighthouse and the light!
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SHELLS AND SEAWEEDS.
RECORDS OF A SUMMER VOYAGE TO CUBA.
I.
THE DEPARTURE.
Again thy winds are pealing in mine ear;Again thy waves are flashing in my sight;
Thy memory-haunting tones again I hear,
As through the spray our vessel wings her flight.
On thy cerulean breast, now swelling high,
Again, thou broad Atlantic, am I cast.
Six years, with gathering speed, have glided by,
Since, an adventurous boy, I hailed thee last.
The sea-birds o'er me wheel, as if to greet
An old companion; on my naked brow
The sparkling foam-drops not unkindly beat;
Flows thro' my hair the freshening breeze: and now
The horizon's ring enclasps me; and I stand
Gazing where fades from view, cloud-like, my fatherland.
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II.
THE AWAKENING.
How changed the scene! Our parting gaze, last night,Was on the three-hilled city's swelling dome,—
The dome o'erlooking from its stately height
Full many a sacred spire and happy home.
Rose over all, clouding the azure air,
A canopy of smoke, swart Labor's sign;
While like a forest Winter has stripped bare,
Bristled the masts along the water's line.
But now the unbroken ocean and the sky
Seem to enclose us in a crystal sphere;
A new creation fills the straining eye;
No bark save ours—no human trace is here!
But, in the brightening east, a crimson haze
Floats up before the sun, his incense fresh of praise.
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III.
THE GALE.
The night came robed in terror. Through the airMountains of clouds, with lurid summits, rolled,—
The lightning kindling with its vivid glare
Their outlines, as they rose heaped fold on fold.
The wind, in fitful soughs, swept o'er the sea;
And then a sudden lull, serene as sleep,
Soft as an infant's breathing, seemed to be
Cast, like enchantment, on the throbbing deep.
But false the calm! for soon the strengthened gale
Burst in one loud explosion, far and wide,
Drowning the thunder's voice! With every sail
Close-reefed, our groaning ship heeled on her side;
The torn waves combed the deck; while, o'er the mast,
The meteors of the storm a ghastly radiance cast.
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IV.
MORNING AFTER THE GALE.
Bravely our trim ship rode the tempest through;And when the exhausted gale had ceased to rave,
How broke the day-star on the gazer's view!
How flushed the orient every crested wave!
The sun threw down his shield of golden light
In proud defiance on the ocean's bed;
Whereat the clouds betook themselves to flight,
Like routed hosts, with banners soiled and red.
The sky was soon all brilliance, east and west;
All traces of the gale had passed away;
The chiming billows, by the breeze caressed,
Shook lightly from their heads the feathery spray.
Ah! thus may Hope's auspicious star relume
The sorrow-clouded soul, and end its hour of gloom!
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V.
TO A LAND BIRD.
Thou wanderer from green fields and leafy nooks!Where blooms the flower and toils the honey-bee,—
Where odorous blossoms drift along the brooks,
And woods and hills are very fair to see,—
Why hast thou left thy native bough to roam,
With drooping wing, far o'er the briny billow?
Thou canst not, like the ospray, cleave the foam,
Nor like the petrel make the wave thy pillow.
Thou'rt like those fine-toned spirits, gentle bird,
Which from some better land to this rude life
Seem borne. They struggle, 'mid the common herd,
With powers unfitted for the selfish strife:
Haply, at length, some zephyr wafts them back
To their own home of peace, across the world's dull track.
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VI.
A THOUGHT OF THE PAST.
I waked from slumber at the dead of night,Moved by a dream too heavenly fair to last—
A dream of boyhood's season of delight;
It flashed along the dim shapes of the past;
And, as I mused upon its strange appeal,
Thrilling me with emotions undefined,
Old memories, bursting from Time's icy seal,
Rushed, like sun-stricken fountains, on my mind.
Scenes where my lot was cast in life's young day;
My favorite haunts, the shores, the ancient woods,
Where, with my schoolmates, I was wont to stray;
Green, sloping lawns, majestic solitudes—
All rose to view, more beautiful than then;—
They faded, and I wept—a child indeed again!
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VII.
TROPICAL WEATHER.
Now we're afloat upon the tropic sea:Here Summer holdeth a perpetual reign.
How flash the waters in their bounding glee!
The sky's soft purple is without a stain.
Full in our wake the smooth, warm trade-winds, blowing,
To their unvarying goal still faithful run;
And, as we steer, with sails before them flowing,
Nearer the zenith daily climbs the sun.
The startled flying-fish around us skim,
Glossed like the humming-bird, with rainbow dyes;
And, as they dip into the water's brim,
Swift in pursuit the preying dolphin hies.
All, all is fair; and gazing round, we feel
Over the yielding sense the torrid languor steal.
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VIII.
A CALM.
O for one draught of cooling northern air!That it might pour its freshness on me now;
That it might kiss my cheek and cleave my hair,
And part its currents round my fevered brow!
Ocean, and sky, and earth—a blistering calm
Spread over all! How weary wears the day!
O, lift the wave, and bend the distant palm,
Breeze! wheresoe'er thy lagging pinions stay!
Triumphant burst upon the level deep,
Rock the fixed hull and stretch the clinging sail!
Arouse the opal clouds that o'er us sleep!
Sound thy shrill whistle! we will bid thee hail!
Though wrapped in all the storm-clouds of the North,
Yet, from thy home of ice, come forth, O breeze, come forth!
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IX.
A WISH.
That I were in some forest's green retreat!Beneath a towering arch of proud old elms;
Where a clear streamlet gurgled at my feet—
Its wavelets glittering in their tiny helms!
Thick clustering vines in many a rich festoon
From the high, rustling branches should depend;
Weaving a net, through which the sultry Noon
Might stoop in vain its fiery beams to send.
There, prostrate on some rock's gray sloping side,
Upon whose tinted moss the dew yet lay,
Would I catch glimpses of the clouds that ride,
Athwart the sky—and dream the hours away;
While through the alleys of the sunless wood
The fanning breeze might steal, with wild-flowers' breath imbued.
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X.
TROPICAL NIGHT.
But O! the night—the cool, luxurious night,Which closes round us when the day grows dim,
And the sun sinks from his meridian height
Behind the ocean's occidental rim!
Clouds in thin streaks of purple, green and red,
Lattice his dying glory, and absorb—
Hung o'er his couch—the rallying lustre shed,
Like love's last tender glances, from his orb.
And now the moon, her lids unclosing, deigns
To smile serenely on the charméd sea,
That shines as if inlaid with lightning-chains,
From which it faintly struggled to be free.
Swan-like, with motion unperceived, we glide,
Touched by the downy breeze, and favored by the tide.
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XI.
THE PLANET JUPITER.
Ever at night have I looked up for thee,O'er thy sidereal sisterhood supreme!
Ever at night have scanned the purple sea
For the reflection of thy quivering beam!
When the white cloud thy diamond radiance screened,
And the Bahama breeze began to wail,
How on the plunging bows for hours I've leaned,
And watched the gradual lifting of thy veil!
Bright planet! lustrous effluence! thou ray
From the Eternal Source of life and light!
Gleam on the track where Truth shall lead the way,
And gild the inward as the outward night!
Shine but as now upon my dying eyes,
And Hope, from earth to thee, from thee to Heaven, shall rise!
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XII.
TO EGERIA.
The flying wave reflects thy angel face,But soon the liquid mirror breaks in foam;
The severing cloud reveals thy form of grace,
And then thou'rt standing in thy fittest home;
A drifted vapor hides thy maiden shape—
Ocean and sky are all the gazer sees;
But, while he murmurs at thy swift escape,
He starts to hear thy whisper in the breeze.
Capricious phantom! why within my heart
Create the void of beauty and of love?
A spirit tells me, coy one, who thou art,—
Heard in the gale, or shadowed forth above—
The bright prefigurement of her who waits,
With snow-white veil and wreath, beside the Future's gates!
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XIII.
CUBA.
What sounds arouse me from my slumbers light?“Land ho! all hands, ahoy!”—I'm on the deck:
'Tis early dawn: the day-star yet is bright;
A few white vapory bars the zenith fleck;
And lo! along the horizon, bold and high,
The purple hills of Cuba! Hail, all hail!
Isle of undying verdure, with thy sky
Of purest azure! Welcome, odorous gale!
O, scene of life and joy! thou art arrayed
In hues of unimagined loveliness.
Sing louder, brave old mariner! and aid
My swelling heart its rapture to express;
For, from enchanted memory, never more
Shall fade this dawn sublime, this fair, resplendent shore.
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XIV.
THE SEA-BREEZE AT MATANZAS.
After a night of languor without rest,—Striving to sleep, yet wishing morn might come,
By the pent, scorching atmosphere oppressed,
Impatient of the vile mosquito's hum,—
With what reviving freshness from the sea,
Its airy plumage glittering with the spray,
Comes the strong day-breeze, rushing joyously
Into the bright arms of the encircling bay!
It tempers the keen ardor of the sun;
The drooping frame with life renewed it fills;
It lashes the green waters as they run;
It sways the graceful palm-tree on the hills;
It breathes of ocean solitudes, and caves,
Luminous, vast, and cool, far down beneath the waves.
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XV.
MIDSUMMER RAINS.
The morning here, how beautiful and bright!Look forth, and not a cloud-flake may be seen;
But, ere the sun has reached his noonday height,
Up from the horizon slides a vapory screen;
And now the firmament is all o'ercast:
Peals the hoarse thunder with stupendous roar;
The rain, a crushing torrent, lays the blast,
Foams on the wave, and hides the adjoining shore.
But, with a breath, it pauses; and a ray
Cleaves the huge keystone of the arch of gloom;
The shower attenuates to a filmy spray,
Bright rolls the sea again—the earth is bloom;
And, while the sun pours down a fiercer blaze,
The moisture reascends fast on his flaming rays.
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XVI.
WEIGHING ANCHOR.
Like sweetest music are those cries that tellOf weighing anchor;—ay, we're homeward bound!
Ye orange groves and coffee walks, farewell!
Farewell, thou fire-scooped summit, forest-crowned!
Ah, bright thy shores and bountiful thy fruits,
Cuba! and heaped with green thy river-banks;
But here the noontide Pestilence recruits
(Stern minister!) Death's ever-gathering ranks.
And so, e'en while thy gales are breathing balm,
And thy rich growth our soil reluctant mocks,
O, give me back the cedar for the palm!
The cedar on its brown hills, ribbed with rocks!
'Tis Freedom's emblem; and on Freedom's shore
It stands—though rough without, all fragrance at the core!
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THE MISSING SHIP.
1841.
God speed the noble President!
A gallant boat is she,
As ever entered harbor,
Or crossed a stormy sea.
Like some majestic castle
She towers upon the stream;
The good ships moored beside her
Like pigmy shallops seem.
A gallant boat is she,
As ever entered harbor,
Or crossed a stormy sea.
Like some majestic castle
She towers upon the stream;
The good ships moored beside her
Like pigmy shallops seem.
How will her mighty bulwarks
The leaping surges brave!
How will her iron sinews
Make way 'gainst wind and wave!
Farewell, thou stately vessel!
Ye voyagers, farewell!
Securely on that deck shall ye
The tempest's shock repel.
The leaping surges brave!
How will her iron sinews
Make way 'gainst wind and wave!
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Ye voyagers, farewell!
Securely on that deck shall ye
The tempest's shock repel.
The stately vessel left us,
In all her bold array;—
A glorious sight, O landsmen,
As she glided down our bay!
Her flags were waving joyfully,
And from her ribs of oak,
“Farewell!” to all the city
Her guns in thunder spoke.
In all her bold array;—
A glorious sight, O landsmen,
As she glided down our bay!
Her flags were waving joyfully,
And from her ribs of oak,
“Farewell!” to all the city
Her guns in thunder spoke.
Flee, on thy vapory pinions!
Back, back to England flee;
Where patient watchers by the strand
Have waited long for thee;
Where kindred hearts are beating
To welcome home thy crew,
And tearful eyes gaze constantly
Across the waters blue!
Back, back to England flee;
Where patient watchers by the strand
Have waited long for thee;
Where kindred hearts are beating
To welcome home thy crew,
And tearful eyes gaze constantly
Across the waters blue!
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Alas, ye watchers by the strand,
Weeks, months have rolled away,
But where, where is the President?
And why is this delay?
Return, pale mourners, to your homes!
Ye gaze, and gaze in vain;
O, never shall that pennoned mast
Salute your eyes again!
Weeks, months have rolled away,
But where, where is the President?
And why is this delay?
Return, pale mourners, to your homes!
Ye gaze, and gaze in vain;
O, never shall that pennoned mast
Salute your eyes again!
And now your hopes, like morning stars,
Have one by one gone out;
And stern Despair subdues at length
The agony of doubt;
But still Affection lifts the torch
By night along the shore,
And lingers by the surf-beat rocks,
To marvel, to deplore.
Have one by one gone out;
And stern Despair subdues at length
The agony of doubt;
But still Affection lifts the torch
By night along the shore,
And lingers by the surf-beat rocks,
To marvel, to deplore.
In dreams, I see the fated ship
Torn by the northern blast;
About her tempest-riven track
The white fog gathers fast;
When, lo! above the swathing mist,
Their heads the icebergs lift,
In lucent grandeur to the clouds—
Vast continents adrift!
Torn by the northern blast;
About her tempest-riven track
The white fog gathers fast;
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Their heads the icebergs lift,
In lucent grandeur to the clouds—
Vast continents adrift!
One mingled shriek of awe goes up,
At that stupendous sight:
Now, helmsman, for a hundred lives,
O, guide the helm aright!
Vain prayer! she strikes! and, thundering down,
The avalanches fall!
Crushed, whelmed, the stately vessel sinks—
The cold sea covers all!
At that stupendous sight:
Now, helmsman, for a hundred lives,
O, guide the helm aright!
Vain prayer! she strikes! and, thundering down,
The avalanches fall!
Crushed, whelmed, the stately vessel sinks—
The cold sea covers all!
Anon, unresting Fancy holds
A direr scene to view,—
The burning ship, the fragile raft,
The pale and dying crew.
Ah me! was such their maddening fate
Upon the billowy brine?
Give up, remorseless Ocean,
A relic and a sign!
A direr scene to view,—
The burning ship, the fragile raft,
The pale and dying crew.
Ah me! was such their maddening fate
Upon the billowy brine?
Give up, remorseless Ocean,
A relic and a sign!
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No answer cometh from the deep,
To tell the tale we dread;
No messenger of weal or woe
Returneth from the dead;
But Faith looks up through tears, and sees,
From earthly haven driven,
Those lost ones meet in fairer realms,
Where storms reach not—in Heaven.
To tell the tale we dread;
No messenger of weal or woe
Returneth from the dead;
But Faith looks up through tears, and sees,
From earthly haven driven,
Those lost ones meet in fairer realms,
Where storms reach not—in Heaven.
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ROCKALL.
[_]
Rockall is a solid block of granite, growing, as it were, out of the sea, at a greater distance from the main land, probably, than any other island or rock of the same diminutive size in the world. It is only seventy feet high, and not more than a hundred yards in circumference. It lies at a distance of no fewer than one hundred and eighty-four miles nearly due west of St. Kilda, the remotest part of the Hebrides, and is two hundred and sixty miles from the north of Ireland.
Pale ocean rock! that, like a phantom shape,
Or some mysterious spirit's tenement,
Risest amid this weltering waste of waves,
Lonely and desolate, thy spreading base
Is planted in the sea's unmeasured depths,
Where rolls the huge leviathan o'er sands
Glistening with shipwrecked treasures. The strong wind
Flings up thy sides a veil of feathery spray
With sunbeams interwoven, and the hues
Which mingle in the rainbow. From thy top
The sea-birds rise, and sweep with sidelong flight
Downward upon their prey; or, with poised wings,
Skim to the horizon o'er the glittering deep.
Or some mysterious spirit's tenement,
Risest amid this weltering waste of waves,
Lonely and desolate, thy spreading base
Is planted in the sea's unmeasured depths,
Where rolls the huge leviathan o'er sands
Glistening with shipwrecked treasures. The strong wind
Flings up thy sides a veil of feathery spray
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Which mingle in the rainbow. From thy top
The sea-birds rise, and sweep with sidelong flight
Downward upon their prey; or, with poised wings,
Skim to the horizon o'er the glittering deep.
Our bark, careening to the welcome breeze,
With white sails filled and streamers all afloat,
Shakes from her dipping prow the foam, while we
Gaze on thy outline mingling in the void,
And draw our breath like men who see, amazed,
Some mighty pageant passing. What had been
Our fate last night, if, when the aspiring waves
Were toppling o'er our mainmast, and the stars
Were shrouded in black vapors, we had struck
Full on thy sea-bound pinnacles, Rockall!
With white sails filled and streamers all afloat,
Shakes from her dipping prow the foam, while we
Gaze on thy outline mingling in the void,
And draw our breath like men who see, amazed,
Some mighty pageant passing. What had been
Our fate last night, if, when the aspiring waves
Were toppling o'er our mainmast, and the stars
Were shrouded in black vapors, we had struck
Full on thy sea-bound pinnacles, Rockall!
But now another prospect greets our sight,
And hope elate is rising with our hearts:
Intensely blue, the sky's resplendent arch
Bends over all serenely; not a cloud
Mars its pure radiance; not a shadow dims
The flashing billows. The refreshing air
It is a luxury to feel and breathe;
The senses are made keener, and drink in
The life, the joy, the beauty of the scene.
And hope elate is rising with our hearts:
Intensely blue, the sky's resplendent arch
Bends over all serenely; not a cloud
Mars its pure radiance; not a shadow dims
The flashing billows. The refreshing air
It is a luxury to feel and breathe;
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The life, the joy, the beauty of the scene.
Repeller of the wild and thundering surge!
For ages has the baffled tempest howled
By thee with all its fury, and piled up
The massive waters like a falling tower
To dash thee down; but there thou risest yet,
As calm amid the roar of storms, the shock
Of waves uptorn, and hurled against thy front,
As when, on summer eves, the crimsoned main,
In lingering undulations, girds thee round!
For ages has the baffled tempest howled
By thee with all its fury, and piled up
The massive waters like a falling tower
To dash thee down; but there thou risest yet,
As calm amid the roar of storms, the shock
Of waves uptorn, and hurled against thy front,
As when, on summer eves, the crimsoned main,
In lingering undulations, girds thee round!
O, might I stand as steadfast and as free
'Mid the fierce strife and tumult of the world,
The crush of all the elements of woe,—
Unshaken by their terrors, looking forth
With placid eye on life's uncertain sea,
Whether its waves were darkly swelling high
Or dancing in the sunshine,—then might frown
The clouds of fate around me! Firm in faith,
Pointing serenely to that better world,
Where there is peace, would I abide the storm,
Unmindful of its rage and of its end.
'Mid the fierce strife and tumult of the world,
The crush of all the elements of woe,—
Unshaken by their terrors, looking forth
With placid eye on life's uncertain sea,
Whether its waves were darkly swelling high
Or dancing in the sunshine,—then might frown
The clouds of fate around me! Firm in faith,
Pointing serenely to that better world,
Where there is peace, would I abide the storm,
Unmindful of its rage and of its end.
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THE HURRICANE'S AMBUSCADE.
Look upon those clouds that lie
Pillowed on the light blue sky,
So translucent and serene,
That they hardly dim its sheen:
Look upon the glittering deep,
Which the fiery sunbeams steep,
Scattering on its purple floor
Amethysts and golden ore!
Pillowed on the light blue sky,
So translucent and serene,
That they hardly dim its sheen:
Look upon the glittering deep,
Which the fiery sunbeams steep,
Scattering on its purple floor
Amethysts and golden ore!
Yet the Spirit of the storm
Masks his elemental form
Under this celestial smile,
Nature putteth on the while;
And the day shall not be ended,
Ere, with all his hosts attended,
We shall see the Hurricane
Ride upon this billowy plain.
Masks his elemental form
Under this celestial smile,
Nature putteth on the while;
48
Ere, with all his hosts attended,
We shall see the Hurricane
Ride upon this billowy plain.
Heralds of his coming swift,
O'er us blackest clouds shall drift;
And each foaming wave below
Seem a pall half-merged in snow;
Then the loosened gale shall break,
Scooping mountains for his wake,
And, with island-shaking roar,
Drive whole argosies ashore.
O'er us blackest clouds shall drift;
And each foaming wave below
Seem a pall half-merged in snow;
Then the loosened gale shall break,
Scooping mountains for his wake,
And, with island-shaking roar,
Drive whole argosies ashore.
But we'll put our ship in trim,
And await this tempest grim,
Trusting not those tints of rose,
Lured not by this smooth repose:
Then, if comes the ambushed gale,
And his vassal waves prevail,
Foundered, wrecked, or tempest-driven,
Still we shall have nobly striven.
And await this tempest grim,
Trusting not those tints of rose,
Lured not by this smooth repose:
Then, if comes the ambushed gale,
And his vassal waves prevail,
Foundered, wrecked, or tempest-driven,
Still we shall have nobly striven.
49
Ah! thou voyager, afloat
On life's sea, in painted boat,
Crystal skies above thee bend,
On thee prosperous airs attend;
But, when fortune seems securest,
Then of stealthy change be surest;
And, with spirit bold and steady,
For the sudden storm be ready.
On life's sea, in painted boat,
Crystal skies above thee bend,
On thee prosperous airs attend;
But, when fortune seems securest,
Then of stealthy change be surest;
And, with spirit bold and steady,
For the sudden storm be ready.
From the earth those vapors mount,
And its moisture is their fount;
But above them, ever clear,
Shines the starry hemisphere:
This world's sorrows, this world's sighs,
Weave the clouds o'er life that rise;
But, eternally above,
Gleams the perfect light of love.
And its moisture is their fount;
But above them, ever clear,
Shines the starry hemisphere:
This world's sorrows, this world's sighs,
Weave the clouds o'er life that rise;
But, eternally above,
Gleams the perfect light of love.
50
A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE.
SET TO MUSIC BY HENRY RUSSELL.
A life on the ocean wave,
A home on the rolling deep;
Where the scattered waters rave,
And the winds their revels keep!
Like an eagle caged, I pine
On this dull, unchanging shore:
O! give me the flashing brine,
The spray and the tempest's roar!
A home on the rolling deep;
Where the scattered waters rave,
And the winds their revels keep!
Like an eagle caged, I pine
On this dull, unchanging shore:
O! give me the flashing brine,
The spray and the tempest's roar!
Once more on the deck I stand,
Of my own swift-gliding craft:
Set sail! farewell to the land!
The gale follows fair abaft.
We shoot through the sparkling foam
Like an ocean-bird set free;—
Like the ocean-bird, our home
We'll find far out on the sea.
Of my own swift-gliding craft:
Set sail! farewell to the land!
The gale follows fair abaft.
51
Like an ocean-bird set free;—
Like the ocean-bird, our home
We'll find far out on the sea.
The land is no longer in view,
The clouds have begun to frown;
But with a stout vessel and crew,
We'll say, Let the storm come down!
And the song of our hearts shall be,
While the winds and the waters rave,
A home on the rolling sea!
A life on the ocean wave!
The clouds have begun to frown;
But with a stout vessel and crew,
We'll say, Let the storm come down!
And the song of our hearts shall be,
While the winds and the waters rave,
A home on the rolling sea!
A life on the ocean wave!
52
MIDSUMMER IN THE CITY.
O RUS, QUANDO TE ASPICIAM?
I.
O, ye keen breezes from the salt Atlantic,Which to the beach, where memory loves to wander,
On your strong pinions waft reviving coolness,
Bend your course hither!
II.
For, in the surf ye scattered to the sunshine,Did we not sport together in my boyhood,
Screaming for joy amid the flashing breakers,
O rude companions?
53
III.
Then to the meadows beautiful and fragrant,Where the coy Spring beholds her earliest verdure
Brighten with smiles that rugged, sea-side hamlet,
How would we hasten!
IV.
There under elm-trees affluent in foliage,High o'er whose summit hovered the sea-eagle,
Through the hot, glaring noontide have we rested,
After our gambols.
V.
Vainly the sailor called you from your slumber:Like a glazed pavement shone the level ocean;
While, with their snow-white canvass idly drooping,
Stood the tall vessels.
VI.
And, when at length, exulting ye awakened,Rushed to the beach, and ploughed the liquid acres,
How have I chased you through the shivered billows,
In my frail shallop!
54
VII.
Playmates, old playmates, hear my invocation!In the close town I waste this golden summer,
Where piercing cries and sounds of wheels in motion
Ceaselessly mingle.
VIII.
When shall I feel your breath upon my forehead?When shall I hear you in the elm-trees' branches?
When shall we wrestle in the briny surges,
Friends of my boyhood?
55
MUSIC ON THE WATERS.
Hark! while our ship is swinging
Above the ocean caves,
The twilight gale is bringing
Soft music o'er the waves.
Ah! from what isle of pleasure
Floats the harmonious sound?
To that entrancing measure,
A fairy troop might bound.
Above the ocean caves,
The twilight gale is bringing
Soft music o'er the waves.
Ah! from what isle of pleasure
Floats the harmonious sound?
To that entrancing measure,
A fairy troop might bound.
Hush! now it faints, it lingers;
Now with a peal sublime,
Struck by the wind-god's fingers,
It drowns the billowy chime.
The stars more brightly glisten;
The waves beneath the moon
Fall down, and seem to listen,
Enchanted, to the tune.
Now with a peal sublime,
Struck by the wind-god's fingers,
It drowns the billowy chime.
56
The waves beneath the moon
Fall down, and seem to listen,
Enchanted, to the tune.
Now mounting, now subsiding,
It swells, it sinks, it dies;
Now on the swift breeze gliding,
Over the deep it flies.
So sweet and so endearing
The strain, that, ere 'tis done,
Thought seems absorbed in hearing,
All senses in the one.
It swells, it sinks, it dies;
Now on the swift breeze gliding,
Over the deep it flies.
So sweet and so endearing
The strain, that, ere 'tis done,
Thought seems absorbed in hearing,
All senses in the one.
57
THE NIGHT-STORM AT SEA.
'Tis a dreary thing to be
Tossing on the wide, wide sea,
When the sun has set in clouds,
And the wind sighs through the shrouds
With a voice and with a tone
Like a living creature's moan.
Tossing on the wide, wide sea,
When the sun has set in clouds,
And the wind sighs through the shrouds
With a voice and with a tone
Like a living creature's moan.
Look, how wildly swells the surge
Round the black horizon's verge!
See the giant billows rise,
From the ocean to the skies,
While the sea-bird wheels his flight
O'er their streaming crests of white!
Round the black horizon's verge!
See the giant billows rise,
From the ocean to the skies,
While the sea-bird wheels his flight
O'er their streaming crests of white!
58
List! the wind is wakening fast;
All the sky is overcast;
Lurid vapors, hurrying, trail
In the pathway of the gale,
As it strikes us with a shock
That might rend the deep-set rock.
All the sky is overcast;
Lurid vapors, hurrying, trail
In the pathway of the gale,
As it strikes us with a shock
That might rend the deep-set rock.
Falls the strained and shivered mast!
Spars are scattered by the blast;
And the sails are split asunder,
As a cloud is rent by thunder;
And the struggling vessel shakes,
As the wild sea o'er her breaks.
Spars are scattered by the blast;
And the sails are split asunder,
As a cloud is rent by thunder;
And the struggling vessel shakes,
As the wild sea o'er her breaks.
Ah! what sudden light is this,
Blazing o'er the dark abyss?
Lo! the full moon rears her form
'Mid the cloud-rifts of the storm,
And, athwart the troubled air,
Shines, like hope upon despair!
Blazing o'er the dark abyss?
Lo! the full moon rears her form
'Mid the cloud-rifts of the storm,
And, athwart the troubled air,
Shines, like hope upon despair!
59
Every leaping billow gleams
With the lustre of her beams,
And lifts high its fiery plume
Through the midnight's parting gloom,
While its scattered flakes of gold
O'er the sinking deck are rolled.
With the lustre of her beams,
And lifts high its fiery plume
Through the midnight's parting gloom,
While its scattered flakes of gold
O'er the sinking deck are rolled.
Father, low on bended knee,
Humbled, weak, we turn to thee;
Spare us, 'mid the fearful fight
Of the raging winds to-night;
Guide us o'er the threat'ning wave;
Save us;—thou alone canst save!
Humbled, weak, we turn to thee;
Spare us, 'mid the fearful fight
Of the raging winds to-night;
Guide us o'er the threat'ning wave;
Save us;—thou alone canst save!
60
A SUMMER NOON AT SEA.
A holy stillness, beautiful and deep,
Reigns in the air and broods upon the ocean;
The worn-out winds are quieted to sleep,
And not a wave is lifted into motion.
Reigns in the air and broods upon the ocean;
The worn-out winds are quieted to sleep,
And not a wave is lifted into motion.
The fleecy clouds hang on the soft blue sky,
Into fantastic shapes of brilliance moulded,
Pillowed on one another broad and high,
With the sun's dazzling tresses interfolded.
Into fantastic shapes of brilliance moulded,
Pillowed on one another broad and high,
With the sun's dazzling tresses interfolded.
The sea-bird skims along the glassy tide,
With sidelong flight and wing of glittering whiteness,
Or floats upon the sea, outstretching wide
A sheet of gold in the meridian brightness.
With sidelong flight and wing of glittering whiteness,
Or floats upon the sea, outstretching wide
A sheet of gold in the meridian brightness.
61
Our vessel lies, unstirred by wave or blast,
As she were moored to her dark shadow seeming,
Her pennon twined around the tapering mast,
And her loose sails like marble drapery gleaming.
As she were moored to her dark shadow seeming,
Her pennon twined around the tapering mast,
And her loose sails like marble drapery gleaming.
How, at an hour like this, the unruffled mind
Partakes the quiet that is shed around us!
As if the Power that chained the impatient wind
With the same fetter of repose had bound us!
Partakes the quiet that is shed around us!
As if the Power that chained the impatient wind
With the same fetter of repose had bound us!
62
“FORGET ME NOT.”
“Forget me not?” Ah, words of useless warning
To one whose heart is henceforth memory's shrine!
Sooner the skylark might forget the morning,
Than I forget a look, a tone of thine.
To one whose heart is henceforth memory's shrine!
Sooner the skylark might forget the morning,
Than I forget a look, a tone of thine.
Sooner the sunflower might forget to waken
When the first radiance lights the eastern hill,
Than I, by daily thoughts of thee forsaken,
Feel, as they kindle, no expanding thrill.
When the first radiance lights the eastern hill,
Than I, by daily thoughts of thee forsaken,
Feel, as they kindle, no expanding thrill.
Oft, when at night the deck I'm pacing lonely,
Or when I pause to watch some fulgent star,
Will Contemplation be retracing only
Thy form, and fly to greet thee though afar.
Or when I pause to watch some fulgent star,
Will Contemplation be retracing only
Thy form, and fly to greet thee though afar.
63
When storms unleashed, with fearful clangor sweeping,
Drive our strained bark along the hollowed sea,
When to the clouds the foam-topped waves are leaping,
Even then I'll not forget, beloved one, thee!
Drive our strained bark along the hollowed sea,
When to the clouds the foam-topped waves are leaping,
Even then I'll not forget, beloved one, thee!
Thy image, in my sorrow-shaded hours,
Will, like a sunburst on the waters, shine;
'Twill be as grateful as the breath of flowers
From some green island wafted o'er the brine.
Will, like a sunburst on the waters, shine;
'Twill be as grateful as the breath of flowers
From some green island wafted o'er the brine.
And O, sweet lady, when, from home departed,
I count the leagues between us with a sigh,—
When, at the thought, perchance a tear has started,
May I not dream in heart thou'rt sometimes nigh?
I count the leagues between us with a sigh,—
When, at the thought, perchance a tear has started,
May I not dream in heart thou'rt sometimes nigh?
Ay, thou wilt, sometimes, when the wine-cup passes,
And friends are gathering round in festal glee,
While bright eyes flash as flash the brimming glasses,
Let silent Memory pledge one health to me.
And friends are gathering round in festal glee,
While bright eyes flash as flash the brimming glasses,
Let silent Memory pledge one health to me.
64
Farewell! My fatherland is disappearing
Faster and faster from my baffled sight;
The winds rise wildly, and thick clouds are rearing
Their ebon flags, that hasten on the night.
Faster and faster from my baffled sight;
The winds rise wildly, and thick clouds are rearing
Their ebon flags, that hasten on the night.
Farewell! The pilot leaves us; seaward gliding,
Our brave ship dashes through the foamy swell;
But Hope, forever faithful and abiding,
Hears distant welcomes in this last farewell!
Our brave ship dashes through the foamy swell;
But Hope, forever faithful and abiding,
Hears distant welcomes in this last farewell!
| Songs of the sea, with other poems | |