Australian and Other Poems/Lines written off Cape Horn
LINES,
WRITTEN ON BOARD THE SHIP "ESSEX," OFF CAPE HORN, DECEMBER 19, 1860.
When from the shore the waving, hand
Gives mute but eloquent good-bye,
What heart so cold as then withstand
To yield the tribute of a sigh?
Who quits even Yarra's winding shore,
Where social charms yet scant'ly spring.
May call his fancy's view before
Some joy to which his soul would cling.
Some friend in trying hour made dear,
Some form towards which affection bends.
Some mate by kindred drawn more near.
To the farewell deep sadness lends.
And ah! to think mayhap we part
To meet no more on earthly scene!
For rudest dangers frequent start
Australia's shores and Thames between.
Cape Horn's frozen bulwark looms
To stay our course 'mid stormy seas;
The icebergs gleam like fairy homes,
As fair and fatal oft as these.
The Tropic zones we needs must brave.
Where burning skies display their wrath,
And even Britain's hoped-for wave
Presents a peril-compassed path.
In thoughts like these see the lesson lie —
Our proven friends to cherish so,
That though we bid our last good-bye,
Bright flowers of thought our memories strow.