Page:Poems for the Sea.djvu/34

Young Beauty, in her gilded barge
   Like Egypt's haughty queen^[1],
For whom, 'tis said, the world was lost,^[2]
   With graceful form is seen;
The morn is fair, the breeze is rare,
   And gliding on her way,
She deems each billow's flashing crest
   To her, doth homage pay.
Reef sails! Reef sails!—I see a cloud
   Athwart the noontide skies,—
A lonely strand, a wreck-strewn sand,—
       Be timely wise.

Pride steers ahead, with canvas spread,
   And top-mast towering high,
Regardless of the warning winds
   That thro' the shrouds do sigh.
Reef sails!—'tis not for him of dust
   For whom the worm doth wait,
To magnify the fleeting trust
   Of wealth, or high estate.

1. Cleopatra
2. For example, Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra: The World Well Lost.