THE ENGLISH SHIP BY MOONLIGHT.
The world below hath not for me
Such a fair and glorious sight,
As an English ship on a rippling sea,
In the full moon's placid light.
Such a fair and glorious sight,
As an English ship on a rippling sea,
In the full moon's placid light.
My heart leaps high as I fix my eye
On her dark and sweeping hull,
Laying its breast on the billowy nest,
Like the tired, sleeping gull.
On her dark and sweeping hull,
Laying its breast on the billowy nest,
Like the tired, sleeping gull.
The masts spring up, all tall and bold,
With their heads among the stars;
The white sails gleam in the silvery beam
Brail'd up to the branching spars.
With their heads among the stars;
The white sails gleam in the silvery beam
Brail'd up to the branching spars.
The wind just breathing to unroll
A flag that bears no stain,—
Proud ship that need'st no other scroll,
To warrant thy right on the main.
A flag that bears no stain,—
Proud ship that need'st no other scroll,
To warrant thy right on the main.
The sea-boy hanging on the shrouds
Chants out his fitful song,
And watches the scud of fleecy clouds,
That melts as it floats along.
Chants out his fitful song,
And watches the scud of fleecy clouds,
That melts as it floats along.
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