Poems of Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in The Amulet, 1833/The Youthful Mariners
THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS
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THE YOUTHFUL MARINERS.
BY L. E. L.
How now, my youthful mariners!
Where will ye sail to-day?
Seek ye the southern latitudes,
And Spice Isles far away?
Manilla and the Philippines,
To have your canvass fanned
By a thousand fragrant odours
Before you see the land?
With Sindbad for your guide-book,
Will ye go sailing on,
To gather cinnamon, and pearls,
And nutmegs in Ceylon?
Or are ye for a bolder quest,
Upon the Northern Seas;
And, on your passage to the pole,
See even ocean freeze?
And watch the restless waters
Turned into solid stone,
Like granite, and like porphyry,
In wild confusion thrown?
Or do ye bear a battle-flag,
And thunder at your side,
So that the foreign foe may quail,
Where'er your navies ride?
I cannot tell what enterprise
Might haunt that childish crew—
What, with their little fairy ships,
It was their dream to do:
But be what will the enterprise,
That carries men afar,
Through danger, death, through calm and storm,
For commerce, science, war;
They could not go more heart in hand,
Their purpose to fulfil,
Than launched those boyish mariners
Their fleet upon the rill.
The sunbeam glittered on the waves,
And danced within their eyes:
Whose bark shall reach yon willow first,
His is the victor's prize.
And each one lends his voice and breath,
To urge the tiny sail;
No sailor in a calm e'er watched
More anxious for a gale.
And though they are but paper boats,
Launched on a village brook;
How earnest is each beating heart!
How eager is each look!
Oh, happy age! that thus can find,
In trifles and in toys,
The pleasure of a new delight—
The freshness that enjoys!
Oh! why should life bring weariness,
And languor, and disdain?
Ah! would to God that I could be
An eager child again!