At dusk the squalid toad was seen,
Hopping and crawling o'er the green.
The frog has lost his yellow vest,
And in a dingy suit is dress'd.
The leech, disturb'd, is newly risen
Quite to the summit of his prison.
The whirling wind the dust obeys,
And in the rapid eddy plays;
My dog, so alter'd in his taste,
Quits mutton-bones on grass to feast;
And see yon rooks, how odd their flight,
They imitate the gliding kite,
Or seem precipitate to fall,
As if they felt the piercing ball :—
'Twill surely rain, I see with sorrow;
Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow.
SEE the nicely-fashioned boat,
O'er the billowy waters float;
With quick oars dashing in the spray,
Her dext'rous rowers cut their way,
Or with high mast and swelling sail,
Prepare to fly before the gale.
Within a large and curious shell,
A little fish is found to dwell,
Who like a mariner has skill
To guide his little boat at will;
Unfurls the sail, or strikes the oar,
Puts out to sea, or makes the shore.
He wants no tools-he needs no help,
His oars and sails are in himself!
His arms are oars, which safely guide
His ship of shell upon the tide;
A curious membrane forms the sail,
With which he scuds before the gale.
"Tis when the Med'terranean laves
Hot Afric's shore with tranquil waves,
And when the ship with easy motion
Furrows the vast Atlantic ocean-
'Tis then when gentle winds prevail,
The Nautilus extends his sail.
But if fierce storms, with mighty sweep,
Ruffle the surface of the deep;
Or a strange object, hovering near,
Awake the little sailor's fear;
Quickly descending far below,
He spurns the tempest or the foe.
THOU boundless, shining, glorious Sea
With ecstasy I gaze on thee,
And envy him whose early beam
Kisses thy lip, bright Ocean stream!
Thanks for the thousand hours, old
Of sweet communion held with thee;
Oft as I gazed, thy billowy roll
Woke the deep feelings of my soul.
Elate with joy, thou deep-toned Sea,
My spirit swells to heaven with thee;
Or, sinking with thee, seeks the gloom
Of nature's deep, mysterious tomb.
At evening, when the sun grows red,
Descending to his watery bed,
The music of thy murmuring deep
Soothes ev'n the weary earth to sleep.
Then lists to thee the evening star,
So sweetly glancing from afar;
And Luna hears thee, when she breaks
Her light in million-coloured flakes.
Oft, when the noonday heat is o'er,
I seek with joy the breezy shore,
Lean on thy boundless, billowy breast,
And cheer me with refreshing rest.
THE BEACON-LIGHT.
DARKNESS was deep'ning o'er the seas,
And still the hulk drove on ;
No sail to answer to the breeze,
Her masts and cordage gone :
Gloomy and drear her course of fear,
Each looked but for a grave,
When full in sight the beacon-light
Came streaming o'er the wave!
Then wildly rose the gladd'ning shout
Of all that hardy crew-
Boldly they put the helm about,
And through the surf they flew ;
Storm was forgot, toil heeded not,
And loud the cheer they gave,
As full in sight the beacon-light
Came streaming o'er the wave!
And gaily oft the tale they told,
When they were safe on shore,
How hearts had sunk, and hope grown cold
Amid the billows' roar;
That not a star had shone afar,
By its pale beam to save,
When full in sight the beacon-light
Came streaming o'er the wave!
UNFALLEN, religious, holy Sea,
Thou bow'dst thy glorious head to none, fear'dst none,
Heard'st none, to none didst honour, but to God
Thy Maker, only worthy to receive
Thy great obeisance! Undiscover'd Sea!
Into thy dark, unknown, mysterious caves,
And secret haunts, unfathomably deep
Beneath all visible retired, none went
And came again, to tell the wonders there.
Tremendous Sea! what time thou lifted up
Thy waves on high, and with thy winds and storms
Strange pastime took, and shook thy mighty sides
Indignantly, the pride of navies fell;
Beyond the arm of help, unheard, unseen,
Sunk friend and foe, with all their wealth and war;
And on thy shores, men of a thousand tribes,
Polite and barbarous, trembling stood, amazed,
Confounded, terrified, and thought vast thoughts
Of ruin, boundlessness, omnipotence,
Infinitude, eternity; and thought
And wonder'd still, and grasp'd, and grasp'd, and grasp'd
Again; beyond her reach, exerting all
The soul, to take thy great idea in,
To comprehend incomprehensible;
And wonder'd more, and felt their littleness.
Self-purifying, unpolluted Sea!
Lover unchangeable, thy faithful breast
For ever heaving to the lovely moon,
That like a shy and holy virgin, robed
In saintly white, walk'd nightly in the heavens,
And to the everlasting serenade
Gave gracious audience, nor was woo'd in vain.
THE EBB-TIDE.
SLOWLY thy flowing tide
Came in, old Avon! scarcely did mine eyes,
As watchfully I roam'd thy greenwood side,
Perceive its gentle rise.
With many a stroke and strong
The labouring boatmen upward plied their oars, Yet little way they made, though labouring long, Between thy winding shores.
Now down thine ebbing tide
The unlabour'd boat glides rapidly along;
The solitary helmsman sits to guide,
And sings an idle song.
Now o'er the rocks that lay
So silent late, the shallow current roars;
Fast flow thy waters on their seaward way,
Through wider spreading shores.
Avon! I gaze and know
The lesson emblem'd in thy varying way;
It speaks of human joys that rise so slow,
So rapidly decay.
Kingdoms which long have stood,
And slow to strength and power attained at last,
Thus from the summit of high fortune's flood
They ebb to ruin fast.
WHEN WINDS BREATHE SOFT.
WHEN winds breathe soft along the silent deep,
The waters curl, the peaceful billows sleep;
A stronger gale the troubled wave awakes,
The surface roughens and the ocean shakes:
More dreadful still, when furious storms arise,
The mountain billows bellow to the skies :
On liquid rocks the tottering vessel's toss'd,
Unnumber'd surges lash the foaming coast;
The raging waves, excited by the blast,
Whiten with wrath and split the sturdy mast:
When, in an instant, He-Who rules the Floods,
Earth, Air, and Fire, JEHOVAH, GOD of gods,
In pleasing accents speaks His sovereign will,
And bids the waters and the winds be still:
Hush'd are the winds, the waters cease to roar,
Safe are the seas, and silent as the shore.
Now say what joy elates the sailor's breast,
With prosperous gale, so unexpected, blest,
What ease, what transport in each face is seen,
The heavens look bright, the air and sea serene:
For every plaint we hear a joyful strain
To Him, Whose power unbounded rules the main.
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