[“When the calm wind upon the dark-blue sea]
[_]
Idyll. v. translated.
“When the calm wind upon the dark-blue sea
“Softly reclines, kissing it tremblingly,
“It lures my timid mind to quit the shore,
“And all the varied landscapes please no more.
“But when the deeps white-foaming heave profound,
“Crest the curved billow, and the waves resound;
“Then from the sea I fly to haunts I love;
“The land is welcome and the shady grove;
“Where gently comes the ruffle on the trees,
“And the tall pine is singing to the breeze.
“How hard the Fisher's life who night and day
“Toils on the seas for an uncertain prey,
“His home with winds and waves upon the deep,
“While'neath the broad-leaved plane I sweetly sleep,
“Or listen to the rill that murmurs near,
“Which soothes without alarm the vacant ear.”
THE CONTRAST.
Not so the Christian—he must fear and flee
The pleasant scene and calm tranquillity
On sea or shore, the inner soul to brace
With sorrow, and look hardship in the face.
Such halcyon days, and calms Elysian
Before the time, the Heaven-ward soul unman.
She dreads false pleasures and alike hath striven
With shine or storm as they to her are given.
His is the patient Fisherman's hard life
With wind and wave and seasons all at strife.
And when his bark is on the nightly sea
Cover'd with waves and all in jeopardy,
The Tempest will disclose his Saviour's Form,
Walking upon the waves amid the storm;
Then He will enter and appease the roar,
And bring them near unto the stable shore.
