 | The heavenly guest with other unpublished writings |  |
24
COTTON
I looked abroad from the rocky height to the vast round ring of the world;A throng of vessels on the sea their white sails had unfurled,
With wide wings glittering in the light, east, west, north, south, they flew;
The breeze sent each upon its way across the level blue.
Musing, I marked their beauty, and thought of their varied use,
From the sprit-sailed fishers' little voyage to the whalers' Arctic cruise,
From the patient coasters' canvas to the mighty column of white
That clothes the great ship proudly to the top of her stately height.
Four-masted schooners ponderous with acres of sailcloth stout,
Great fans of yachts spread out to catch all airs that stir about;
Such press of sail from stem to stern, from deck to topmast tall,
They skyward yearn and hardly seem to touch the earth at all.
The lateen sails of Southern Seas, curved like the pinions light
Of soaring gulls, and then the folds of raiment glowing bright
With which fair Venice drapes her masts, with colors rich and deep,
To woo soft Adriatic airs that in the stillness sleep.
And it seemed a wonderful thing to me that all the countless sails
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Blossoming golden o'er myriad fields, to scatter its filmy snow
From the ripened seed in a dazzling cloud, to be gathered and woven and spun
For the use of man in every one of the nations under the sun.
And I thought, as I gazed at the gleaming sails, there is nothing large or small;
The poppy seed I can hardly see is as great as the earth's huge ball.
For the spirit of God is in every thing, and the life of all is one,
From the wing of the gnat and the breath of the rose to the central fires of the sun.
| The heavenly guest with other unpublished writings | |