 | Lays of Leisure Hours |  |
50
THE LITTLE BOAT.
It was a heavy night,
Storm, darkness, terror reigned;
And tossed by Ocean's might
A little bark remained.
Storm, darkness, terror reigned;
And tossed by Ocean's might
A little bark remained.
The little bark was frail,
The fragile bark was small—
How might it brave the gale—
And the rough waves' rise and fall?
The fragile bark was small—
How might it brave the gale—
And the rough waves' rise and fall?
Yet, when the morning broke,
Safe on the shore it lay,
Safe from the tempest-stroke,
And the waves' unpitying play.
Safe on the shore it lay,
Safe from the tempest-stroke,
And the waves' unpitying play.
51
A mighty Power was near
From Ruin's jaws to snatch!
A mighty hand to steer—
A mighty eye to watch!
From Ruin's jaws to snatch!
A mighty hand to steer—
A mighty eye to watch!
Lo! prouder Barks might be
Victims of these stern hours,
Of the Storm and of the Sea,
Of the Darkness and its Powers!
Victims of these stern hours,
Of the Storm and of the Sea,
Of the Darkness and its Powers!
Bark—lowly bark and frail,
And thou wert thus allowed
To bide the infuriate gale,
And the billows, tempest-ploughed.
And thou wert thus allowed
To bide the infuriate gale,
And the billows, tempest-ploughed.
Brave vessels, proud and strong,
May have been cast away!
On their decks the armed throng,
And the Warlike guns' array!
May have been cast away!
On their decks the armed throng,
And the Warlike guns' array!
52
Barks freighted with such freight
As might set chained monarchs free,
May have haply found the fate
That was thus withheld from thee.
As might set chained monarchs free,
May have haply found the fate
That was thus withheld from thee.
Oh! the lowly and the weak
May still be saved and spared,
While the storms their fury wreak
On the powerful and prepared!
May still be saved and spared,
While the storms their fury wreak
On the powerful and prepared!
On Life's dark troubled waves
Me, may Heaven deign to spare
From its thousand yawning graves
Of wrath and of despair!
Me, may Heaven deign to spare
From its thousand yawning graves
Of wrath and of despair!
Thus on Life's fiercer Sea,
This dark deep Sea of Life,
May I delivered be
From the wilder Storm and Strife.
This dark deep Sea of Life,
May I delivered be
From the wilder Storm and Strife.
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