Poems (Thaxter)/Footprints in the Sand
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND.
Lazily, through the warm gray afternoon, We sailed toward the land;Over the long sweep of the billows, soon, We saw on either handPeninsula and cape and silver beach Unfold before our eyes,Light-house and roof and spire and wooded reach Grew clear beyond surmise.Behind us lay the islands that we loved, Touched by a wandering gleam,Melting in distance, where the white sails moved Softly as in a dream.Drifting past buoy and scarlet beacon slow, We gained the coast at last,And up the harbor, where no wind did blow, We drew, and anchor cast.The lovely land! Green, the broad fields came down Almost into the sea;Nestled the quiet homesteads warm and brown, Embraced by many a tree; The gray above was streaked with smiling blue, The snowy gulls sailed o'er;The shining golden-rod waved, where it grew, A welcome to the shore.Peaceful the whole, and sweet. Beyond the sand, The dwelling-place I soughtLay in the sunshine. All the scene I scanned Full of one wistful thought:Saw any eyes our vessel near the shore From vine-draped windows quaint?Waited my bright, shy darling at the door, Fairer than words could paint?I did not see her gleaming golden head, Nor hear her clear voice call;As up the beach I went with rapid tread, Lonely and still was all.But on the smooth sand printed, far and near, I saw her footsteps small;Here had she loitered, here she hastened, here She climbed the low stone wall.Such pathos in those little footprints spoke, I paused and lingered long;Listening as far away the billows broke With the old solemn song."The infinite hoary spray of the salt sea," In yet another tide, Should wash away these traces utterly; And in my heart I cried;"O thou Creator, when thy waves of Time, The infinite hoary sprayThat sweeps life from the earth at dawn and prime Have swept her soul away,How shall I know it is not even as these Light footprints in the sand,That vanish into naught? For no man sees Clearly what thou hast planned."And sadly musing, up the slope I pressed, And sought her where.she played,By breeze and sunshine flattered and caressed, A merry little maid.And while I clasped her close and held her fast, And looked into her face,Half shy, half smiling, wholly glad at last To rest in my embrace,From the clear heaven of her innocent eyes Leaped Love to answer me,Divinely through the mortal shape that dies Shone immortality!What the winds hinted, what the awful sky Held in its keeping,—allThe vast sea's prophesying suddenly Grew clear as clarion call The secret nature strives to speak, yet hides, Flashed from those human eyesTo slay my doubt: I felt that all the tides Of death and change might riseAnd devastate the world, yet I could see This steady shining sparkShould live eternally, could never be Lost in the unfathomed dark!And when beneath a threatening sunset sky We trimmed our sails and turnedSeaward again, with many a sweet good-by, A quiet gladness burnedWithin me, as I watched her tiny form Go dancing up and down,Light as a sandpiper before the storm, Upon the beach-edge brown,Waving her little kerchief to and fro Till we were out of sight,Sped by a wild wind that began to blow Out of the troubled night:And while we tossed upon an angry sea, And round the lightning ran,And muttering thunder rolled incessantly As the black storm began,I knew the fair and peaceful landscape lay Safe hidden in the gloom, Waiting the glad returning of the day To smile again and bloom:And sure as that to-morrow's sun would rise, And day again would be,Shone the sweet promise of those childish eyes Wherein God answered me.