Why no slight message from the grave is found?
Why from its hidden silence ne'er a sound?
Know thou the hand of Lethe guards the way,
That those who've crossed before are Lotus-bound.
Farewell
Farewell! Farewell! O Sea, O fickle Sea,
Keep in thy faithless arms, O keep
Him who is all and more than all to me
Safe from thy treacherous deep!
His passioned kiss yet hot upon my cheek,
Now thy salt kisses take the place of mine;
O Sea, I envy thee thy burden; seek
The smoothest path for him across the brine.
To-night the lazy breezes from the hills
Will cool my brow, dreaming of him afar,
While thy soft winds, O Sea, the canvas fills
That carries him beneath yon patient star.
Farewell! Farewell! Ye Winds from out the deep,
Blow gently as the ev'en shadows fall;
And through the silence of the darkness keep
The good ship there that carries mine, my all.
