Poems (David)/Stanzas on the Ocean

by Edith Mary David

STANZAS ON THE OCEAN.

O OCEAN! would that I might dwell
 Upon thy sparkling breast;
On thy blue depths I love so well,
 That I might find a rest!
I feel that dry and dusty land
 Was never framed for me;
For I would leave my native land
 To course upon the sea!

A race with some wild snowy gull
 Upon the mighty deep;
The white foam falling from the hull,
 As a midnight watch to keep!
For I feel the wild and eddying tide,
 The fathomless and the free;
The noble ocean pure and wide,
 That they were formed for me!

The moon is on the waters bright,
 The sail beats on the mast,
Just ruffled by the winds so light,
 That softly whisper past.
Rocked to sleep by the gentle waves,
 That ripple round her bow;
Like a swan she sits upon the deep,
 And all is well below!

Softly o'er the ocean's shore
 There comes a phantom train,
With many a fairy dancing gleam,
 Over the midnight main.
I scarce can think the smiling deep
 Can wear so fair a phase;
Far down a watch it safely keeps,
 On the sailor's lonely grave.