Sunrise at Sea

by Epes Sargent

  When the mild weather came,
  And set the sea on flame,
  How often would I rise before the sun,
     And from the mast behold
     The gradual splendors of the sky unfold
  Ere the first line of disk had yet begun,
  Above the horizon's are,
     To show its flaming gold,
  Across the purple dark!

  One perfect dawn how well I recollect,
  When the whole east was flecked
  With flashing streaks and shafts of amethyst,
  While a light crimson mist
  Went up before the mounting luminary,
  And all the strips of cloud began to vary
  Their hues, and all the zenith seemed to ope
  As if to show a cope beyond the cope!
     How reverently calm the ocean lay
     At the bright birth of that celestial day!
  How every little vapor, robed in state,
  Would melt and dissipate
     Before the augmenting ray,
  Till the victorious Orb rose unattended,
  And every billow was his mirror splendid!