Pocahontas and Other Poems (New York)/Pelican on the Sea of Galilee
PELICAN ON THE SEA OF GALILEE.
"A single pelican was floating there; like myself, he was alone."—Stephens's Incidents of Travel.
Lone bird, upon yon sacred sea, Dimpling with solitary breastThe silent wave of Galilee, Where shall thine oary foot find rest?
Hast thou a home mid rock or reed Of this most desolate domain,Where not one ibex dares to feed, Nor Arab tent imprints the plain?
What know'st thou of Bethsaida's gate? Or old Chorazin's desert bound?What heed'st thou of Capernaum's fate, Whose shapeless ruins throng around?
Once, when the tempest's wing was dark, A sleeper rose and calm'd the sea,And snatch'd from death the fragile bark— Here was the spot, but who was he?
He heard the surge impetuous roar, And trod sublime its wildest crest,Redeemer! was yon watery floor Thus by thy glorious feet impress'd?
Oh, when each earthly hope and fear, Each fleeting loss, each fancied gain,Shall to our death-dimm'd sight appear Like the lost cities of the plain,
Then may the soul, enslaved no more, Launch calmly on salvation's sea,And part from time's receding shore, Lone, peaceful pelican! like thee.