The Seaside and the Fireside/The Secret of the Sea

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

The Secret of the Sea.

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Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me
 As I gaze upon the sea!
All the old romantic legends,
 All my dreams, come back to me.

Sails of silk and ropes of sendal,
 Such as gleam in ancient lore;
And the singing of the sailors,
 And the answer from the shore!

Most of all, the Spanish ballad
 Haunts me oft, and tarries long,
Of the noble Count Arnaldos
 And the sailor's mystic song.

Like the long waves on a sea-beach,
 Where the sand as silver shines,
With a soft, monotonous cadence,
 Flow its unrhymed lyric lines;—

Telling how the Count Arnaldos,
 With his hawk upon his hand,
Saw a fair and stately galley,
 Onward steering to the land;—

How he heard the ancient helmsman
 Chant a song so wild and clear,
That the sailing sea-bird slowly
 Poised upon the mast to hear,

Till his soul was full of longing,
 And he cried, with impulse strong,—
“ Helmsman! for the love of heaven,
 Teach me, too, that wondrous song!”

“ Wouldst thou,”—so the helmsman answered,
 “ Learn the secret of the sea?
Only those who brave its dangers
 Comprehend its mystery!”

In each sail that skims the horizon,
 In each landward-blowing breeze,
I behold that stately galley,
 Hear those mournful melodies;

Till my soul is full of longing
 For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
 Sends a thrilling pulse through me.