Classic Poem

Thou hast been where the rocks of coral grow,
Thou hast fought with eddying waves;—
Thy cheek is pale, and thy heart beats low,
Thou searcher of ocean's caves!

Thou hast look'd on the gleaming wealth of old,
And wrecks where the brave have striven:
The deep is a strong and fearful hold,
But thou its bar hast riven!

A wild and weary life is thine:
A wasting task and lone,
Though treasure-grots for thee may shin
To all besides unknown!

A weary life! but a swift decay
Soon, soon shall set thee free;
Thou'rt passing fast from thy toils away,
Thou wrestler with the sea!

In thy dim eye, on thy hollow cheek,
Well are the death-signs read—
Go! for the pearl in its cavern seek,
Ere hope and power be fled!

And bright in beauty's coronal
That glistening gem shall be;
A star to all in the festive hall—
But who will think on thee?

None!—as it gleams from the queen-like head,
Not one 'midst throngs will say,
“A life hath been like a rain-drop shed
For that pale quivering ray.”

Woe for the wealth thus dearly bought!
—And are not those like thee,
Who win for earth the gems of thought?
O wrestler with the sea!

Down to the gulfs of the soul they go
Where the passion-fountains burn,
Gathering the jewels far below
From many a buried urn:

Wringing from lava veins the fire,
That o'er bright words is pour'd;
Learning deep sounds, to make the lyre
A spirit in each chord.

But, oh! the price of bitter tears,
Paid for the lonely power
That throws at last o'er desert years,
A darkly glorious dower!

Like flower seeds, by the wild wind spread,
So radiant thoughts are strew'd;
—The soul whence those high gifts are shed,
May faint in solitude!

And who will think, when the strain is sung
Till a thousand hearts are stirr'd.
What life-drops, from the minstrel wrung,
Have gush'd with every word?

None, none!—his treasures live like thine,
He strives and dies like thee;
—Thou, that hast been to the pearl's dark shrine,
O wrestler with the sea!