THE SEA TO THE SHELL
O mother o’ mine, with the foam-flecked hair,
O mother, I love and know
The heart that is sad and the soul that is bare
To your daughter of ebb and flow;
And hold your whispers of Heaven and Hell
In the loving heart of a wave-washed shell.
O mother, I love and know
The heart that is sad and the soul that is bare
To your daughter of ebb and flow;
And hold your whispers of Heaven and Hell
In the loving heart of a wave-washed shell.
THE SILENT TIDE
I heard Old Ocean raise her voice and cry,
In that still hour between the night and day;
I saw the answering tides, green robed and gray,
Turn to her with a low contented sigh;
Marching with silent feet they passed me by,
For the white moon had taught them to obey,
And scarce a wavelet broke in fretful spray,
As they went forth to kiss the stooping sky.
In that still hour between the night and day;
I saw the answering tides, green robed and gray,
Turn to her with a low contented sigh;
Marching with silent feet they passed me by,
For the white moon had taught them to obey,
And scarce a wavelet broke in fretful spray,
As they went forth to kiss the stooping sky.
So, to my heart, when the last sunray sleeps,
And the wan night, impatient for the moon,
Throws her gray mantle over land and sea,
There comes a call from out life’s nether deeps,
And tides, like some old ocean in a swoon,
Flow out, in soundless majesty, to thee.
And the wan night, impatient for the moon,
Throws her gray mantle over land and sea,
There comes a call from out life’s nether deeps,
And tides, like some old ocean in a swoon,
Flow out, in soundless majesty, to thee.
THE WATCH ON DECK
Becalmed upon the equatorial seas,
A ship of gold lay on a sea of fire;
Each sail and rope and spar, as in desire,
A ship of gold lay on a sea of fire;
Each sail and rope and spar, as in desire,
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