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OCEAN.
In Sunshine.
My window overlooks thee,—and thy sheen of silver glory,
In musical monotony advances and recedes;
Till I dimly see the "shining ones" of ancient song and story,
With aureoles of ocean-haze invite to distant meads,
Where summer song and sunshine on placid waters play;—
Drifting dreamily, insensibly, on fragrance-laden breeze—
Floating onward on the wavelets, without hurry or delay,
I reach some blissful haven in the bright Hesperides.
Overcast.
How wearily and drearily the mist hangs over all!
And dismally the fog-horn shrieks its warning o'er the wave!
How sullenly the billows heave, beneath the funeral pall!
An impenetrable solitude!—a universal grave!
In Storm.
O! measureless and merciless! vindictive, wild, and stern!
Fire, Pestilence and Whirlwind all yield the palm to thee!
Roar on in bad pre-eminence—a worse thou canst not earn,
Than clings in famine, wreck, and death, to thee, O cruel Sea!
Ocean's Lessons.