Page:Songs from the Southern Seas and Other Poems (1873).djvu/101

And there we were, without help or hope, dreading the coming night.
Three days that hurricane lasted. When it passed, two men were dead;
And the strongest one of the living had not strength to raise his head.
When his dreaming swoon was broken by the sound of a cheery hail,
And he saw a shadow fall on the boat,—it fell from the old bark's sail!
And when he heard their kindly words, you 'd think he should have smiled
With joy at his deliverance; but he cried like a little child.
And hid his face in his poor weak hands,—for he thought of the selfish plan,—
And he prayed to God to forgive them all. And, shipmates, I am the man!—
The only one of the sinful crew that ever beheld his home;
For before the cruise was over, all the rest were under the foam.