When clouds began to fill the western sky,

And dim the luster of the sinking sun—

The grim prognostic of a rising gale.

Young night had spangled all the sky with stars,465

And empty sails hung languid on the masts;

When low, foreboding sighings of the wind

Spring from our landward side; the hidden shore

Resounds afar with warning mutterings;

The rising waves anticipate the storm;470

The moon is blotted out, the stars are hid,