Poems (Van Rensselaer)/At Sea
For works with similar titles, see At Sea.
AT SEA
When the great autumn gales rush up the coast,
Rending their canopies of driven cloud,
And, answering to their touch, an endless host
Of northward storming billows cry aloud—
How shall he fear who sails the sea?
Though death come very nigh,
He cannot fear to die
Enarmed in this immense vitality.
Rending their canopies of driven cloud,
And, answering to their touch, an endless host
Of northward storming billows cry aloud—
How shall he fear who sails the sea?
Though death come very nigh,
He cannot fear to die
Enarmed in this immense vitality.
When mystic haze of autumn lulls the deep
To visions of unending peacefulness,
And wide its argent acres swing and sleep,
Unruffled by the dim air's slow caress—
How shall he fear who sails the sea?
Whate'er the day may give,
He cannot fear to live
Wrapped in this measureless tranquillity.
To visions of unending peacefulness,
And wide its argent acres swing and sleep,
Unruffled by the dim air's slow caress—
How shall he fear who sails the sea?
Whate'er the day may give,
He cannot fear to live
Wrapped in this measureless tranquillity.
Pequot,
1904.
1904.