Ye wild winds of Heaven how dreadful you rave,
As o'er the huge billows you sweep,
While thunder stalks forth from his echoing cave,
And lightnings illumine the deep.

The mariner starts at the heart-rending sound,
As the tempest howls loud through the sky,
While the broad-blazing welkin spreads horror around,
He breathes his despair in a sigh!

Alas! to his bosom is nature still dear?
For man does his heart dare to feel?
Can the rapture of friendship, the bliss of a tear,
To his soul with strong energy steal?

Yes! the heart-thrilling hopes of a far distant wife,
His offspring in childhood's soft bloom,
Makes the sailor still value the treasure of life,
And affrighted recoil from the tomb!

But welcome ye storms to the fetter-bound slave,
Ye thunderbolts burst on his head;
Oppression ne'er frowns on the realms of the grave,
Nor Cruelty tramples the dead!

Ye band of oppressors, yon vast mountain wave,
Now towering aloft to the sky,
Is big with destruction, no efforts can save,
Ye fiends how I smile when you die!

Dear shades of my parents I hasten to you,
Now rob'd in the glories of Heaven;
But know, to this breast, e'er I murmur'd adieu,
Revenge and dread triumph were given!