Sea-Visions
"Heaven! how my heart died in me thus to spy
In one brief glance the secret of the deep;
I entered one, and there—Oh what saw I?
A human corpse laid out as if in sleep.
In one brief glance the secret of the deep;
I entered one, and there—Oh what saw I?
A human corpse laid out as if in sleep.
"I turned and sought another—still the same,
A dreamless sleeper on his bed of stone;
Unknown his history, unknown his name,
The date of his imprisonment unknown.
A dreamless sleeper on his bed of stone;
Unknown his history, unknown his name,
The date of his imprisonment unknown.
"And on and on I passed in haste and fear,
Searching each cave for one belovèd form
And on I passed, and cried 'She is not here!
Oh, thanks, brave ship! thou hast escaped the storm!'
Searching each cave for one belovèd form
And on I passed, and cried 'She is not here!
Oh, thanks, brave ship! thou hast escaped the storm!'
"But there were creatures fair as even she—
Roses o'er whose sweet bloom the storm had swept
Whirling them down into the wild, waste sea;
And, gazing on their loveliness, I wept.
Roses o'er whose sweet bloom the storm had swept
Whirling them down into the wild, waste sea;
And, gazing on their loveliness, I wept.
"And there were children laid in childish sleep,
Each on its pillow with unconscious head,
Children for whom e'en yet their mothers weep,
And yet will not believe them of the dead.
Each on its pillow with unconscious head,
Children for whom e'en yet their mothers weep,
And yet will not believe them of the dead.
"And there too the strong sailor with clenched hand
As if upbraiding cruel ocean still,
That, baffling long despair's wild strife for land,
Its tortured victim still delayed to kill.
As if upbraiding cruel ocean still,
That, baffling long despair's wild strife for land,
Its tortured victim still delayed to kill.
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