The Signal Light
The lonely sailor, when the night
O'er ocean's glimmering waste descends,
Sets at the peak his signal light,
And fondly dreams of absent friends.
Starless the sky above him broods,
Pathless the waves beneath him swell;
Through peril's spectral solitudes
That beacon flares, and all is well.
So, on the wandering sea of years,
When now the evening closes round,
I show the signal flame that cheers,
And scan the wide horizon's bound.
The night is dark, the winds are loud,
The black waves follow, fast and far;
Yet soon may flash, through mist and cloud,
The radiance of some answering star.
Haply across the shuddering deep,
One moment seen, a snowy sail
May dart with one impetuous leap,
And pass with one exultant hail:
And I shall dearly, sweetly know,
Though storm be fierce and ocean drear,
That somewhere still the roses blow,
And hearts are true, and friends are near.
Each separate on the eternal main,
We seek the same celestial shore:
Sometimes we part to meet again,
Sometimes we part to meet no more.
Ah, comrades, prize the gracious day
When sunshine bathes the tranquil tide,
And, careless as a child at play,
Our ships drift onward, side by side!
Too oft, with cold and barren will,
And stony pride of iron sway,
We bid the voice of love be still,
And thrust the cup of joy away.
No comfort haunts the yellow leaf!
Wait not till, broken, old, and sere,
The sad heart pines, in hopeless grief,
For one sweet voice it used to hear.
Thought has its throne, and power its glow,
And wealth will bless, and beauty please;
But the best hours that life can know
Are rose-crowned hours of mirth and ease.
Let laughter leap from every lip!
To music turn the perfumed air!
Ye golden pennons, glance and dip!
Ye crimson banners, flash and flare!
On them no more the tempest glooms
Whose freed and royal spirits know
To frolic where the lilac blooms,
And revel where the roses blow!
But, lights of heaven above them kiss,
As over silver seas they glide,—
One heart, one hope, one fate, one bliss,—
To peace and silence, side by side.
O'er ocean's glimmering waste descends,
Sets at the peak his signal light,
And fondly dreams of absent friends.
Starless the sky above him broods,
Pathless the waves beneath him swell;
Through peril's spectral solitudes
That beacon flares, and all is well.
So, on the wandering sea of years,
When now the evening closes round,
I show the signal flame that cheers,
And scan the wide horizon's bound.
The night is dark, the winds are loud,
The black waves follow, fast and far;
Yet soon may flash, through mist and cloud,
The radiance of some answering star.
Haply across the shuddering deep,
One moment seen, a snowy sail
May dart with one impetuous leap,
And pass with one exultant hail:
And I shall dearly, sweetly know,
Though storm be fierce and ocean drear,
That somewhere still the roses blow,
And hearts are true, and friends are near.
Each separate on the eternal main,
We seek the same celestial shore:
Sometimes we part to meet again,
Sometimes we part to meet no more.
Ah, comrades, prize the gracious day
When sunshine bathes the tranquil tide,
And, careless as a child at play,
Our ships drift onward, side by side!
Too oft, with cold and barren will,
And stony pride of iron sway,
We bid the voice of love be still,
And thrust the cup of joy away.
No comfort haunts the yellow leaf!
Wait not till, broken, old, and sere,
The sad heart pines, in hopeless grief,
For one sweet voice it used to hear.
Thought has its throne, and power its glow,
And wealth will bless, and beauty please;
But the best hours that life can know
Are rose-crowned hours of mirth and ease.
Let laughter leap from every lip!
To music turn the perfumed air!
Ye golden pennons, glance and dip!
Ye crimson banners, flash and flare!
On them no more the tempest glooms
Whose freed and royal spirits know
To frolic where the lilac blooms,
And revel where the roses blow!
But, lights of heaven above them kiss,
As over silver seas they glide,—
One heart, one hope, one fate, one bliss,—
To peace and silence, side by side.
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