20
THE WRECK OF THE POCAHONTAS.
We told our tale, and the boatmen cried:
"'Twas the Pocahontas,—all were lost!
For miles along the coast the tide
Her shattered timbers tossed."
"'Twas the Pocahontas,—all were lost!
For miles along the coast the tide
Her shattered timbers tossed."
Then I looked the whole horizon round,—
So beautiful the ocean spread
About us, o'er those sailors drowned!
"Father in heaven," I said,—
So beautiful the ocean spread
About us, o'er those sailors drowned!
"Father in heaven," I said,—
A child's grief struggling in my breast,—
"Do purposeless thy children meet
Such bitter death? How was it best
These hearts should cease to beat?
"Do purposeless thy children meet
Such bitter death? How was it best
These hearts should cease to beat?
O wherefore! Are we naught to Thee?
Like senseless weeds that rise and fall
Upon thine awful sea, are we
No more then, after all?"
Like senseless weeds that rise and fall
Upon thine awful sea, are we
No more then, after all?"
And I shut the beauty from my sight,
For I thought of the dead that lay below;
From the bright air faded the warmth and light,
There came a chill like snow.
For I thought of the dead that lay below;
From the bright air faded the warmth and light,
There came a chill like snow.
