University of Virginia Library


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TO GEORGE ABERNETHY, EX-GOVERNOR OF OREGON, These Pages ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, BY HIS FRIEND,

The Author.

108

A SCENE AT SEA.

Above our heads the moon and stars
Were smiling brightly and serene,
Painting the waves with silver bars,
And lighting up that ocean-scene:
And on our right the lightnings threw
Their shafts of fire far and free;
While, like a bird with proud wings, flew
Our vessel through that snow-curled sea,
And all above, below, around,
Was full of grandeur! Every sound
The winds and waters breathed were such
As I had never heard before!
Oh, who can tell the heart how much
At such an hour it will adore
Th' Inscrutable First Cause which we
Behold in everything at sea!