 | Sea songs |  |
THE SEA'S SONG.
Bright
waves that beside me are breaking—
Ah, what is the word,
The word you for ever are speaking,
Which no man has heard?
Ah, what is the word,
The word you for ever are speaking,
Which no man has heard?
Is it love, is it death, is it sorrow,
The one word you say?
As vague as the dreams of to-morrow,
Your voice is to-day.
The one word you say?
As vague as the dreams of to-morrow,
Your voice is to-day.
Yet I hear the sea's word-almost grasp it;
It almost is plain—
Yet just as my soul strains to clasp it,
Eludes me again!
It almost is plain—
Yet just as my soul strains to clasp it,
Eludes me again!
Yet a child loves a song, never caring
Its meaning to scan;
So we love the sea's song that is bearing
The secret of Man.
Its meaning to scan;
So we love the sea's song that is bearing
The secret of Man.
E Nesbit.
[The ship that lay]
The
ship that lay
Upon the bay,
Anchored in peace, with white wings furled,
Now far and free
Escapes from me,
And seeks for treasure round the world.
Upon the bay,
Anchored in peace, with white wings furled,
Now far and free
Escapes from me,
And seeks for treasure round the world.
And so it seems
Our brightest dreams
Sail out of sight of longing eyes;
So, too, they may
Return some day
Laden with precious merchandise.
Our brightest dreams
Sail out of sight of longing eyes;
So, too, they may
Return some day
Laden with precious merchandise.
E. Nesbit.
[This sea that tosses the sea weed brown]
This sea that tosses the sea weed brownBy the quay of our little nothern town,
And floats great ships—and in bay and reach
Laughs with the children at play on the beach—
How strange to know that it breaks its waves
Round palm-crowned islands, with coral caves.
E. Nesbit.
| Sea songs | |