| A DAY BY THE SEA.
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| I. |
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Bright glow the portals of the east,
With ev'ry rich, and glorious dye,
The blue waves, in the morning beam
Lift up their heads rejoicingly.
And as they break upon the shore,
Their murmur seems a lofty hymn,
Rising, and mingling with the strain
Sung by adoring Seraphim.
White sails departing from the land
Seem like the wings of some sweet dove
Bearing away to distant climes,
The cheering words of faithful love.
The fisher to his daily toil
Speeds swiftly, with a bending oar,
Oft looking backward to the band,
Which throngs his humble cottage door.
Rejoicing in his freedom now
The eagle sails far out to sea,
Where his shrill scream is heard above
The swelling wave's wild melody.
By wave, and shore, all things are bright;
When morning's purest, earliest glow,
Bathing the heavens in rainbow hues,
Falls on the waiting world below. |
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| II. |
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'Tis noon--the waves long wakened now,
Are lifting their white crests on high;
And on the far horizon's verge,
They seem to mingle with the sky.
And oh! it is a solemn joy,
To listen to their sullen roar,
And see them, like a white-plumed band
Of warriors, rushing to the shore.
But never yet did mail-clad band,
With such a fierce, resistless sweep,
Rush on the foe, as rush to land
Those crested warriors of the deep.
Vessels, with snowy canvass filled,
Are swiftly dashing through the foam;
Yet careless, as those birds which make
The billow wild and free, their home.
Full oft, amid the waters bright
Are seen the dolphin's varied dyes,
And to elude his swift pursuit,
Aloft the silver mullet flies.
The sea-gull rides upon the wave,
As fearless on its foaming crest;
As land-birds at the day's decline,
Sit brooding o'er the mossy nest.
And in his course, the God of day
Beholds no scene so fresh, and free,
As that, which meets his burning gaze,
At noon, beside the chainless sea. |
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| III. |
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'Tis evening-and the crested waves
Are softly sinking to their rest;
As infancy, when day is done,
Sinks gently on its mother's breast.
For morn the tranquil waters wake;
Noon saw them flashing, wild, and high,
But eve the gentle south wind brought, [249]
To soothe them with its lullaby.
Bright is the wave; bright is the shore!
And brighter seems yon far-off isle,
For all above, beneath, around,
Glows in the sun's departing smile:
Returning slowly to the land,
The snowy pelican is seen;
And soon she folds her weary wing,
Where her loved nest the rushes screen.
The fisher's song steals o'er the wave
Now gently chiming with his oar;
Until the strain is broken, by
Sweet voices hailing from the shore,
Clouds, floating in the firmament,
Unbroken 'neath the waters lie;
And as the quiet stars come forth
They seem to find another sky.
For mirrored in the placid tide,
Their glories undiminished glow,
Sparkling, as if the stars above
Where speaking to the stars below,
In unveiled splendor then the moon
Sheds o'er the sea her mellow light;
And never lovelier scene than this
Can fall upon our mortal sight.
The dawn is glorious; when the sun
Bursts forth in grandeur o'er the sea,
And many charms hath glowing noon,
But evening by the wave for me! |
| AZIM.
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