260

THE WIVES OF BRIXHAM.

Then as the wind grew fiercer,

The women's cheeks grew white, -
It was fiercer in the twilight,

And fiercest in the night.

The strong clouds set themselves like ice,
Without a star to melt;

The blackness of the darkness

Was darkness to be felt.

The old men they were anxious,
They dreaded what they knew ;
What do you think the women did?
Love taught them what to do!
Outspake a wife, "We've beds at home,
We'll burn them for a light, -
Give us the men, and the bare ground,
We want no more to-night."

They took the grandame's blanket,
Who shivered and bade them go
They took the baby's pillow,

Who could not say them no;

And they heaped a great fire on the pier,
And knew not all the while

If they were heaping a bonfire,

Or only a funeral pile.

262

THE WIVES OF BRIXHAM.

Then all along the breath of flame,
Dark figures shrieked and ran,
With, "Child, here comes your father!
Or, "Wife, is this your man?"

And faint feet touch the welcome shore,
And wait a little while;

And kisses drop from frozen lips,
Too tired to speak or smile.

So, one by one, they struggled in
All that the sea would spare ;
We will not reckon through our tears
The names that were not there;
But some went home without a bed,
When all the tale was told,

Who were too cold with sorrow
To know the night was cold.

And this is what the men must do
Who work in wind and foam;
And this is what the women bear
Who watch for them at home.
So when you see a Brixham boat
Go out to face the gales,
Think of the love that travels

Like light upon her sails!

POEMS FOR A CHILD.

THE NORTHERN SEAS.

Up! up! let us a voyage take;
Why sit we here at ease?
Find us a vessel tight and snug,
Bound for the Northern Seas.

I long to see the northern lights
With their rushing splendors fly,
Like living things with flaming wings,
Wide o'er the wondrous sky.

I long to see those icebergs vast,

With heads all crowned with snow, Whose green roots sleep in the awful deep, Two hundred fathoms low.

I long to hear the thundering crash

Of their terrific fall,

And the echoes from a thousand cliffs

Like lonely voices call.

There shall we see the fierce white bear,

The sleepy seals aground,

And the spouting whales that to and fro

Sail with a dreary sound.

There may we tread on depths of ice,
That the hairy mammoth hide;
Perfect as when, in times of old,
The mighty creature died.

And while the unsetting sun shines on
Through the still heaven's deep blue,
We'll traverse the azure waves, the herds
Of the dread sea-horse to view.