Poems (Brown)/The Watcher by the Sea
THE WATCHER BY THE SEA.
The mellow sun was shedding His rays o'er ocean wild,And clouds of gold and purple Called to the breezes mild.
Down by the trees in the valley Sounded a footstep light;And a song was floating sadly From lips all pale and white.
Down by the waving willows. Glided a gentle girl;Her eyes were beaming wildly From under her dark brown curl.
She stole to the deep dark inlet, And bent, with folded lands,Where the great white waves were beating Upon the shining sands.
She stood; with lips half parted, Gazing out upon the sea,As if listening for a friendly call From one far o'er the lea.
I wondered why the child was there, And why she looked so sad;—Had she no friend, no loving friend, To make her young heart glad?
The tears ran down her cold wet cheeks, Her pale lips quivered too;I longed to ask her childish name, And gaze in those eyes of blue.
But something seemed to hold me back, And press my heart-strings tight;And when I turned to look again, She had vanished from my sight.
I never yet have learned her name, Or why she wandered there,Or why she stood, with folded hands, As though she breathed a prayer.
I do not know what made her weep, Her blue eyes fill with tears,Or what sad sorrow pressed her heart,— Such sorrow for young years.
I only know she was alone,— A watcher by the sea;And how she listened for some voice To echo o'er the lea.
But in my prayer I'll ask for this: That God her feet may guide;That she may find a resting-place Beyond life's surging tide.
And still I seem to see, to-night, As I gaze far o'er the lea,The tearful eyes and quivering lips Of the "Watcher by the Sea."