University of Virginia Library

SEA-WATER, and all living below it,
Forests at the bottom of the sea—the branches and
     leaves,
Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds—
     the thick tangle, the openings, and the pink turf,
Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white,
     and gold—the play of light through the water,
Dumb swimmers there among the rocks—coral,
     gluten, grass, rushes—and the aliment of the
     swimmers,
Sluggish existences grazing there, suspended, or
     slowly crawling close to the bottom,
The sperm-whale at the surface, blowing air and
     spray, or disporting with his flukes,
The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, the
     hairy sea-leopard, and the sting-ray;
Passions there—wars, pursuits, tribes—sight in
     those ocean-depths—breathing that thick-breath-
     ing air, as so many do,
The change thence to the sight here, and to the subtle
     air breathed by beings like us, who walk this
     sphere;
The change onward from ours to that of beings who
     walk other spheres.