Classic Poem

Summer Ocean, idly washing
This grey rock on which I lean;
Summer Ocean, broadly flashing
With thy hues of gold and green;
Gently swelling, wildly dashing
O'er yon island-studded scene;
Summer Ocean, how I'll miss thee, —
Miss the thunder of thy roar,
Miss the music of thy ripple,
Miss thy sorrow-soothing shore,-
Summer Ocean, how I'll miss thee,
When " the sea shall be no more. "
Summer Ocean, how I'll miss thee,
As along thy strand I range;
Or as here I sit and watch thee
In thy moods of endless change —
Mirthful moods of morning gladness,
Musing moods of sunset sadness;
When the dying winds caress thee,
And the sinking sunbeams kiss thee,
And the crimson cloudlets press thee,
And all nature seems to bless thee! —
Summer Ocean, how I'll miss thee, —
Miss the wonders of thy shore,
Miss the magic of thy grandeur,
When " the sea shall be no more! "

And yet sometimes in my musings,
When I think of what shall be;
In the day of earth's new glory,
Still I seem to roam by thee.
As if all had not departed,
But the glory lingered still;
As if that which made thee lovely,
Had remained unchangeable.
Only that which married thy beauty, —
Only that had passed away,
Sullen wilds of Ocean-moorland,
Bloated features of decay.
Only that dark waste of waters,
Line ne' er fathomed, eye ne 'er scanned,
Only that shall shrink and vanish,
Yielding back the imprisoned land.
Yielding back earth's fertile hollows,
Long submerged and hidden plains;
Giving up a thousand valleys,
Of the ancient world's domains.
Leaving still bright azure ranges,
Winding round this rocky tower;
Leaving still yon gem-bright island,
Sparkling like an ocean-flower.
Leaving still some placid stretches,
Where the sunbeams bathe at noon,
Leaving still some lake-like reaches,
Mirrors for the silver moon.
Only all of gloom and horror,
Idle wastes of endless brine,
Haunts of darkness, storm, and danger,
These shall be no longer thine.
Backward ebbing, wave and ripple,
Wondrous scenes shall then disclose;
And, like earth's, the wastes of ocean
Then shall blossom as the rose.