 | Poems by James Rhoades |  |
171
L'ENVOI.
Go, little bark! be buoyant, brave;
I've launch'd thee on a stormier main
Than ever closed o'er seaman's grave,
Or deeply drank the hoarded gain.
I've launch'd thee on a stormier main
Than ever closed o'er seaman's grave,
Or deeply drank the hoarded gain.
It may be to thy fair renown
Some favourable breeze will blow,
Or else “the gulfs may wash thee down”—
Well, there are nobler freights below.
Some favourable breeze will blow,
Or else “the gulfs may wash thee down”—
Well, there are nobler freights below.
It may be—nay, but thou art frail,
And scarce canst stem the boisterous wave,
And many a broader prow might fail
The sinking castaway to save.
And scarce canst stem the boisterous wave,
And many a broader prow might fail
The sinking castaway to save.
172
It may be that, when eve is nigh,
Some watcher on a lonely isle
May lift his eyes before he die,
And think of home again, and smile:
Some watcher on a lonely isle
May lift his eyes before he die,
And think of home again, and smile:
If he forget a moment's pain,
To track thy flight across the sun,
Be glad thou wert not all in vain,
Then vanish, for thy day is done.
To track thy flight across the sun,
Be glad thou wert not all in vain,
Then vanish, for thy day is done.
| Poems by James Rhoades | |