Classic Poem

The Nautilus ever loves to glide
Upon the crest of the radiant tide.
When the sky is clear and the wave is bright,
Look over the sea for a lovely sight!
You may watch and watch for many a mile,
And never see Nautilus all the while,
Till just as your patience is nearly lost,
Lo! there is a bark in the sunlight toss'd!

“Sail ho! and whither away so fast?”
What a curious thing she has rigged for a mast!
“Ahoy! ahoy! don't you hear our hail?”
How the breeze is swelling her gossamer sail!
The good ship Nautilus—yes, 'tis she!
Sailing over the gold of the placid sea;
And though she never will deign reply,
I could tell her hull with the glance of an eye.

Now, I wonder where Nautilus can be bound;
Or does she always sail round and round,
With the fairy queen and her court on board,
And mariner-sprites, a glittering horde?
Does she roam and roam till the evening light?
And where does she go in the deep midnight?
So crazy a vessel could hardly sail,
Or weather the blow of “a fine stiff gale.”

Oh, the self-same hand that holds the chain,
Which the ocean binds to the rocky main—
Which guards from wreck when the tempest raves,
And the stout ship reels on the surging waves,
Directs the course of thy little bark;
And in the light or the shadow dark,
And near the shore or far at sea,
Makes safe a billowy path for thee!