Poems (Henley)/Fresh from his fastnesses
XIVTo J. A. C.
Fresh from his fastnessesWholesome and spacious,The North Wind, the mad huntsman,Halloas on his white houndsOver the grey, roaringReaches and ridges,The forest of ocean,The chace of the world.Hark to the pealOf the pack in full cry,As he thongs them before him,Swarming voluminous,Weltering, wide-wallowing,Till in a ruiningChaos of energy, Hurled on their quarry,They crash into foam!
Old Indefatigable,Time's right-hand man, the seaLaughs as in joyFrom his millions of wrinkles:Laughs that his destiny,Great with the greatnessOf triumphing order,Shows as a dwarfBy the strength of his heartAnd the might of his hands.
Master of masters,O maker of heroes,Thunder the brave,Irresistible message:—'Life is worth LivingThrough every grain of it,From the foundationsTo the last edgeOf the cornerstone, death.'