THE STRENGTH OF LIFE.
The wild waves dash on the storm-beat sands
In fierce, tempestuous glee;
And the cold grey rocks are madly lashed
In colder, greyer sea;
The fisherman's wife is on her knees,
And the laughing boy is still;
For a frail bark strives in the surging main
To combat Nature's will.
The pain-pierced eyes are tearless,
And the suffering lips are white,
For aching heart and throbbing brain
Heave with tumultuous might.
Ah! sad for the passionate soul,
Whose fierce, mad strength is vain
To stem the surging tide of woe,
Or vanquish and restrain.
But the wavelets creep on the sun-lit shore,
Breaking in fitful glee;
And the fisher-boy marks from the gleaming rocks
Shades on the azure sea;
The mother sings to her sleeping babe
While the fisherman mends his net,
And a thousand storms have changed to calm
Since day arose and set.
