The Poetical Works of William Motherwell/The Shipwrecked Lover
THE ship-Wrecked Lover.
The Port-Reeve's maid has laid her down
Upon a restless pillow,
But wakeful thought is wander ng
Ayont the ocean billow.
Her love's away—he's far away—
A world of waves asunder—
Around him now the storm may burst
With fearful peals of thunder!
But yet—the night-wind's breath is faint,
The night-beam entereth meekly;
But when the moon's fair face is free,
Strange she should shine so weakly!—
Yet guided by her waning beam
His ship must swim securely—
Beneath so fair a sky as this
He'll strike his haven surely!
There came a knocking to the door,
That hour so lone and stilly;
And something to the maiden said—
'Arise for true love Willie!'
Another knock! another still—
Three knocks were given clearly—
Then quickly rose the Port-Reeve's maid—
Her seaman she loved dearly!
And first she saw a streak of light,
Like moonshine cold and paly;
And then she heard a well-known step—
The maiden's pulse beat gaily!
She saw a light, she heard a step,
She marked a figure slender
Across the threshold pass like thought,
And stand in her lone chamber.
It paced the chamber once and twice,
It crossed it three times slowly—
But when she to her Maker prayed,
It fled like sprite unholy.
The form the vanished shadow wore
Was of her true love Willie—
0 not a breath escaped the lips
That pallid looked and chilly!
Long motionless the maiden stood,
In wonder, fear, and sorrow—
A tale of wreck, a tale of wo
Was told her on the morrow!
The ship of her returning hopes
Had sunk beneath the billow—
The ocean-shell, the ocean-weed
Were now her lover's pillow!