Into the ocean faint and far Falls the trail of its golden splendor, Chrysaor rising out of the sea, Showed thus glorious and thus emulous, Leaving the arms of Callirrhoe, For ever tender, soft, and tremulous. Thus o'er the ocean faint and far Trailed the gleam of his falchion brightly; Is it a God, or is it a star That, entranced, I gaze on nightly! THE SECRET OF THE SEA. АH! what pleasant visions haunt me All the old romantic legends, All my dreams, come back to me. Sails of silk and ropes of sendal, Most of all, the Spanish ballad Of the noble Count Arnaldos And the sailor's mystic song. Like the long waves on a sea-beach, Telling how the Count Arnaldos, How he heard the ancient helmsman Till his soul was full of longing, "Wouldst thou,' so the helmsman answered, In each sail that skims the horizon, Hear those mournful melodies; Till my soul is full of longing For the secret of the sea, And the heart of the great ocean TWILIGHT. THE twilight is sad and cloudy, But in the fisherman's cottage There shines a ruddier light, Close, close it is pressed to the window, And a woman's waving shadow Now bowing and bending low. What tale do the roaring ocean, And the night-wind, bleak and wild, And why do the roaring ocean, And the night-wind, wild and bleak, As they beat at the heart of the mother, Drive the color from her cheek? SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. SOUTHWARD with fleet of ice Wild and fast blew the blast, And the east-wind was his breath. His lordly ships of ice Glistened in the sun; On each side, like pennons wide, Flashing crystal streamlets run. Longfellow. I. 23 His sails of white sea-mist But where he passed there were cast Eastward from Campobello Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed; Alas! the land-wind failed, He sat upon the deck, The Book was in his hand; In the first watch of the night, The fleet of Death rose all around. The moon and the evening star Were hanging in the shrouds; Every mast, as it passed, Seemed to rake the passing clouds. They grappled with their prize, At midnight black and cold! Southward through day and dark, Southward, for ever southward, THE LIGHTHOUSE. THE rocky ledge runs far into the sea, Upheaving, break unheard along its base, And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright, Not one alone; from each projecting cape Holding its lantern o'er the restless surge. Like the great giant Christopher it stands And the great ships sail outward and return, They wave their silent welcomes and farewells. |