Ocean , once more upon thy breast
Delightedly I gaze;
Dearer in life's decline confest
Than in our earlier days.

When health and strength begin to fail,
And spirits are deprest,
Finding less " pleasure in the tale,
Less smartness in the jest; "

'Tis then, when fades full many a flower
And life draws near the lees,
We find how much has lost its power
E'en momently to please.

But still to every grander phase
Of Nature we return,
And find in our declining days
Yet more to love and learn.

And what can Nature's self supply,
From all her varied store,
That may with thee, old Ocean, vie,
To soothe, or teach us, more.

Whether our mood be gay or grave,
Our spirits high or low,
There's music in thy dashing wave,
Or in thy rippling flow.

Earth is too prone to chance and change,
Although her face be fair:
We find, wherever we may range,
How much is alter'd there.

But thou in sunshine or in storm,
In grandeur or in grace,
Retain'st thine old primeval form,
Thine old familiar face.

Beneath the over-arching sky,
And sun, and moon, and star,
Thy beauty and thy majesty
Man hath no power to mar.

Even as first the Almighty plann'd
Where thy domain should be,
Parted thy waters from dry land
And named their concourse Sea ;

E'en so, from that creative hour,
With freedom still unquell'd,
In glory, majesty, and power,
Hast thou dominion held.

Yet, endless as may seem thy reign,
And mighty as thou art,
Thy sceptre thou shalt not retain,
It must from thee depart:

For prophecy foretells a day
When thou must cease to be:
When heaven and earth shall pass away,
" There shall be no more sea. "