 | Later Lays and Lyrics |  |
A DREAM OF THE SEA.
I.
Stella! while sleeping, I beheld the sea,Raging and heaving with convulsive throes,
Unveil its depths and mysteries to me:—
The rock of coral like a peak arose,
Whose summit in the purple twilight glows:—
So startling were the echoes of the caves,
Within each vein the ruddy current froze—
The fearful conflict of the winds and waves
Methought awoke the dead in their forgotten graves.
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II.
The firmament was darkened like a pall,And wore a look of terrible despair;
The nymph of ocean left her sparry hall,
And wildly shook her green, unbraided hair.
Unearthly music floated on the air
In pauses of the storm, a dirge-like sound!
The blue shark glided from his watery lair,
Gorged with a meal upon the ghastly drowned,
And pathway by his side the fearful sword-fish found.
III.
Mine eye beheld forgotten works of Art,And heaps of gleaming perils and yellow ore;
The costly exports of the busy mart,
And wealth untold bestrewed old Ocean's floor:
Where were the barks that all these treasures bore?
Around they lay bereft of mast and sail,
To ride the deep in majesty no more—
Defiance bidding to the angry gale,
While timid stand the brave, the manly cheeks grow pale.
IV.
The fierce and huge leviathan, methought,Affrighted by the elemental war,
With flashing fin the upper waters sought;
To light the scene shot forth no twinkling star,
Nor did the bright sun in his flaming car
On the roused deep his burning glances throw:
Black thunder clouds growled loudly, and the glare
Of red winged lightning to the crumbling snow
That capt the surges gave intolerable glow.
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V.
Beneath the tide were visible far downThe fallen thrones and palaces of old;
Symbol of buried power, and ancient crown
A skull encircled with its tarnished gold:
The wave-washed relics of the wise and bold
In many a hollow cavern lay unwept,
And darkly hid within the tarry fold
The hapless maid and youthful lover slept,
While over them the sea like some proud victor swept.
VI.
Spars, riven timbers, and the broken mastThe tide retreating left upon the strand;
Then at my feet inrolling waters cast
My wife—the sea weed in her rigid hand:
Methought her grave I dug within the sand,
Shrouding the precious relics in my cloak,
But when to view were lost those features bland,
In mournful tone the passing spirit spoke—
“Farewell for evermore!”—I trembled and awoke.
New York, 1855.
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