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Ocean-Thoughts

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585912Ocean-ThoughtsRobert Ervin Howard

The strong winds whisper o'er the sea,
   Flinging the gray-gnarled ocean's spate;
The gray waves lash along the lea.

The lone gulls wings are high and free,
   The great seal trumpets for his mate;
The high winds drum, the wild winds dree.

The gray shoals roar unceasingly,
   Where combers march in kingly state,
The crest-crowned monarchs of the sea.

And now, along the lone, white lea,
   The surges fade, the winds abate.
And the wide sea lies silently.

But far to islands, restlessly
   Surges the tide, unreined and great,
Forever roaming and forever free.

And thus my soul, forever restlessly,
   Longs for the outworld, vast, unultimate,
The vasty freedom of the swinging sea,
Forever roaming and forever free.

This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 88 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.


The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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