Yet more, the Depths have more! - Thy waves have roll'd Above the cities of the world gone by! Sand hath filled up the palaces of old, Seaweed o'ergrown the halls of revelry! Dash o'er them Ocean! in thy scornful play, Man yields them to decay! Yet more! the Billows and the Depths have more! High hearts and brave are gathered to thy breast! They hear not now the booming waters roar, The battle-thunders will not break their rest. Keep thy red gold and gems, thou stormy grave! Give back the true and brave! Give back the lost and lovely! - Those for whom The place was kept at board and hearth so long, The prayer went up through midnight's breathless gloom, And the vain yearning woke 'midst festal song! Hold fast thy buried isles, thy towers o'erthrown, -But all is not thine own! To thee the love of woman hath gone down, Dark flow thy tides o'er manhood's noble head, O'er youth's bright locks and beauty's flowery crown ; Yet must thou hear a voice Restore the dead! Earth shall reclaim her precious things from thee Restore the dead, thou Sea! MRS. HEMANS. THE LITTLE BEACH-BIRD. I. THOU little bird, thou dweller by the sea, Along the waves dost thou fly? O! rather, Bird, with me Through the fair land rejoice! II. Thy flitting form comes ghostly, dim, and pale, As if thy mates had shared The doom of us. Thy wail What does it bring to me? III. Thou call'st along the sand, and haunt'st the surge, Restless and sad; as if in strange accord With the motion and the roar Of waves that drive to shore, One spirit did ye urge IV. Of thousands, thou, both sepulchre and pall, A tale of mourning tells - His sinless glory fled. V. Then turn thee, little bird, and take thy flight Where the complaining sea shall sadness bring Thy spirit never more. Come, quit with me the shore, For gladness and the light Where birds of summer sing. THE LEE-SHORE. R. H. DANA. SLEET, and Hail, and Thunder! And Till the sands thereunder Tinge the sullen wave — Winds that like a demon From his humble dwelling From that weeping woman Succor superhuman From the frowning skies From the urchin pining For his father's knee From the lattice shiningDrive him out to sea! Let broad leagues dissever THOMAS HOOD. THE OCEAN'S MOAN. πᾶσαν δ ̓ ἐπλησας φωνας ἄλα. Moschus. STREAMS that sweep where thousands languish Hence it is that ever Ocean Hath so sad, so wild a moan; Calm, or lashed in wild commotion, Therefore is its dirge-like tone. Moaning for the dead and dying Rivers tell it to the sea, Shall not Ocean, with its billows, Their eternal mourner be? ANONYMOUS. |