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The Coasters
Upon the coasters' spreading sails
December's sun is shining bright;
And to their port, with favoring gales,
They'll safely come ere falls the night;
Secure from harm has been their way,
No wintry storms have swept the bay.
December's sun is shining bright;
And to their port, with favoring gales,
They'll safely come ere falls the night;
Secure from harm has been their way,
No wintry storms have swept the bay.
From yon high hill I saw their fleet,
By many a gallant crew 'twas manned;
A pleasant company they meet,
And steer their courses near the land;
Joyous, for now all danger's past,
The rocky shore, the icy blast.
By many a gallant crew 'twas manned;
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And steer their courses near the land;
Joyous, for now all danger's past,
The rocky shore, the icy blast.
But a few days; and others, tost,
Strive manfully their port to reach;
In storm and darkness they are lost,
Their spars and rigging strew the beach;
And frozen, stretched upon the sand,
Lie some of that brave sailor band!
Strive manfully their port to reach;
In storm and darkness they are lost,
Their spars and rigging strew the beach;
And frozen, stretched upon the sand,
Lie some of that brave sailor band!
In nobler fight they did contend
Than that, in which war's heroes fall;
In peaceful toil they found their end;
War's strife the world doth glory call;
But these should have a nobler name,
Than heroes, on the roll of fame.
Than that, in which war's heroes fall;
In peaceful toil they found their end;
War's strife the world doth glory call;
But these should have a nobler name,
Than heroes, on the roll of fame.
Not with their fellow men they strove,
To waste the earth, destroy and kill;
But o'er the ocean loved to rove,
To toil with courage, strength, and skill;
And, midst the elements' fierce strife,
To conquer, or to yield their life.
To waste the earth, destroy and kill;
But o'er the ocean loved to rove,
To toil with courage, strength, and skill;
And, midst the elements' fierce strife,
To conquer, or to yield their life.
Varied and strange life's shifting scene!
Like ocean's ever changing form;
To-day, all peaceful and serene,
To-morrow, dark with clouds and storm;
Oh, that we might in Him confide,
Who to blest ends doth all things guide.
Like ocean's ever changing form;
To-day, all peaceful and serene,
To-morrow, dark with clouds and storm;
Oh, that we might in Him confide,
Who to blest ends doth all things guide.
Poem No. 753; c. 1 February 1878
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