[HER VOYAGE IS AT AN END.]
Hushed was the ocean's stormy roar,
Still as an infant's joy;
There sat upon the rocky shore
A father and his boy.
Far off they saw a gallant ship,
It came from foreign lands;
The boy began to dance and skip,
And clap his little hands.
Her wished-for port is near at hand,
The ship is hastening on;
They hear the birds sing on the land;
Her voyage is nearly done.
The boy's glad notes, his shouts of glee,
The rocks with music fill;
But now he cries,—"See, father, see!
The ship is standing still."
Her masts are trembling from the shock.
Her white sails all descend;
The ship has struck upon a rock,—
Her voyage is at an end.
The sailors hurry to and fro,
All crowded is the deck;
She struggles hard,—she's free;—O, no!
She is indeed a wreck.
The boy's young heart is full of grief:
"Father! what will she do?
Let's take the boat to her relief,
O, quickly let us go!"
They went,—and many a stronger hand
Its ready succour gave;
They brought the crew all safe to land,
And the cargo tried to save.