Classic Poem

Out of the depths above shone forth
A beautiful, radiant, peerless light;
Paling the stars near by, she ruled
Queen of the breathless, listening night.

Four of us glided along in the boat,—
Rhoda and Etta, Harry and I,—
Cheerily watching the glory that streamed
Across the sea from the bending sky.

Etta spoke first, and her voice seemed far:
“The sparkling line, however we turn,
Comes straight to me!” But I claimed it, too,
I at the bow, and she at the stern.

We laughed, insisting; then Rhoda, between:—
“Absurd! for it comes to me, not you—
A beautiful, silvery ribbon of light,
Crinkling and shining across the blue.”

Then Harry, the rower: “By all that 's bright
It flashes its course direct to me!”
Thus merry, intent and apart we sat,
Claiming the splendor that crossed the sea

Till Rhoda, the fairy, proposed a plan
(A friskier sailor was never afloat);
And then, with many a laugh and start,
We all changed seats in the rocking boat.

O human vision, how blind it is!
'T was plain, at last, that our partial sight
Had made the glory that shone for all
To each seem a narrow pathway bright.

Shining, arose on the breast of the sea,
A lesson in love, a thought of grace:
Learn thou to look for the Heavenly light
Not alone from thine own, but thy neighbor's place.

Four of us glided home in the boat,
Rhoda and Etta, Harry and I,
Thoughtfully watching the glory that streamed
Over the sea from the silent sky.