What though above his head the steamboat plies,
And close at hand he hears the fume and fuss
Of the impetuous Halibut that flies
The mad embraces of the Octopus.
Though the fierce tails of Whales like flails descend
Upon the water lashed to furious foam,
And the Sea-serpents writhe and twist and bend
All round the purlieus of his ocean home,
He still preserves his philosophic calm,
His high detachment from material things,