STANZAS BY THE SEA-SIDE.
Scaling the green crag while thy rough voice raves;
Here am I sporting on thy lonely strand;
Shrieking with glee, while hunted by thy waves;
Foam on my feet, and sea-weed in my hand.
Here am I sporting on thy lonely strand;
Shrieking with glee, while hunted by thy waves;
Foam on my feet, and sea-weed in my hand.
I stand again beside thee as I stood
In panting youth, watching thy billows break;
Fix'd by the strong spell of thy headlong flood;
Even as the bird is charm-bound by the snake.
In panting youth, watching thy billows break;
Fix'd by the strong spell of thy headlong flood;
Even as the bird is charm-bound by the snake.
Thou bringest visions-would that they could last!—
Thou makest me a laughing child once more;
Casting away the garner of the Past,
Heedless of all that Fate may have in store.
Thou makest me a laughing child once more;
Casting away the garner of the Past,
Heedless of all that Fate may have in store.
I feel beside thee like a captive one,
Whose riven fetter-links are left behind;
I love thee as the flower loves the sun;
I greet thee as the incense greets the wind.
Whose riven fetter-links are left behind;
I love thee as the flower loves the sun;
I greet thee as the incense greets the wind.
Thou wilt be haunting me when I am found
Amid the valleys and green slopes of earth;
And I shall hear thy stunning revel-round,
And see the gem-spray scatter'd in thy mirth.
Amid the valleys and green slopes of earth;
And I shall hear thy stunning revel-round,
And see the gem-spray scatter'd in thy mirth.
Creation's first and greatest—though we part—
Though with thy worshipp'd form I may not dwell;
Thou art among the idols of my heart
To which it never breathes the word—Farewell!
Though with thy worshipp'd form I may not dwell;
Thou art among the idols of my heart
To which it never breathes the word—Farewell!
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