Betwixt Two Seas Poems and Ballads (Written at Constantinople and Therapia). By Violet Fane [i.e. M. M. Lamb] |
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ACCIDENT
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51
ACCIDENT
From sea to sea the wild winds sweep
And lash the fury of the waves;
Live men are wash'd into the deep,
And dead men from their graves;
And lash the fury of the waves;
Live men are wash'd into the deep,
And dead men from their graves;
O'er head, the sea-birds whirl and shriek,
The storm-clouds burst, the rains descend;
The ships at anchor swing and creak
As tho' the world would end.
The storm-clouds burst, the rains descend;
The ships at anchor swing and creak
As tho' the world would end.
Three hundred years yon cypress spire
Had sway'd to all the winds that blow,
To-day, the tempest in its ire
Tears up and lays it low.
Had sway'd to all the winds that blow,
To-day, the tempest in its ire
Tears up and lays it low.
52
With climbing roses cluster'd o'er,
We look'd upon it on the ground,
When, lo, embedded in its core,
A thunderbolt was found!
We look'd upon it on the ground,
When, lo, embedded in its core,
A thunderbolt was found!
Then much we marvell'd at the fate
Reserved for only one,
When three tall spires beside the gate
Tow'r'd up towards the sun;
Reserved for only one,
When three tall spires beside the gate
Tow'r'd up towards the sun;
And all unscathed the comrade-trees,
Tho' close as close could be
Each grew to each, the prey of breeze
And bolt, in like degree;
Tho' close as close could be
Each grew to each, the prey of breeze
And bolt, in like degree;
And seeing all its eighty feet
Laid level with the sod,
We ask'd why one, thus, twice should meet
The chastisements of God?
Laid level with the sod,
We ask'd why one, thus, twice should meet
The chastisements of God?
| Betwixt Two Seas | |