And he said with a smile, "Our ship, Many a ship that sailed the main I wis, Shall be of another form than this!" Pressing down upon sail and mast, With the model of the vessel, Covering many a rood of ground, The knarred and crooked cedar knees; motion ! There's not a ship that sails the ocean, Only the long waves, as they broke Was modelled o'er and o'er again ;- The heir of his house, and his "Thus," said he, "we will build this ship! Lay square the blocks upon the slip, Enraptured the young man heard; Her father's door, He saw the form of his promised bride, Was the restless, seething, stormy sea! Ah, how skilful grows the hand Thus with the rising of the sun' Were heard the intermingled sounds The blocks, well placed upon the slip. And when the hot, long day was o'er, Want and plenty, rest and strife, And the magic charm of foreign lands, With shadows of palms and shining sands, Where the tumbling surf, O'er the coral reefs of Madagascar, Washes the feet of the swarthy Lascar, As he lies alone and asleep on the turf. And the trembling maiden held her breath At the tales of that awful, pitiless sea, From the bowl of his pipe would a while illume The silent group in the twilight gloom, And thoughtful faces, as in a dream; And for a moment one might mark What had been hidden by the dark, That the head of the maiden lay at rest, Tenderly, on the young man's breast! Day by day the vessel grew, With timbers fashioned strong and true, [knee, Stemson and keelson and sternsonTill, framed with perfect symmetry, A skeleton ship rose up to view ! And around the bows and along the side The heavy hammers and mallets plied, Till after many a week, at length, Wonderful for form and strength, Sublime in its enormous bulk, Loomed aloft the shadowy hulk! " men : 'Build me straight, O worthy Master, Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel, That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind With oaken brace and copper band, Over the movement of the whole; Hold the great ship against the bellowing blast! And at the bows an image stood, On many a dreary and misty night, Speeding along through the rain and the dark, Like a ghost in its snow-white sark, Each tall and tapering mast * Vessels are sometimes, though not usually, of the exception, as be ter suited to my purlaunched fully rigged. I have availed myself poses than the general rule; but the reader will see by the following extract of a letter from a friend in Portland, Maine, that it is neither a blunder nor a poetic licence : "In this State, and also, I am told, in New York, ships are sometimes rigged upon the stocks, in order to save time, or to make a show. There was a fine large ship launched And everywhere The slender, graceful spars A flag unrolls the stripes and stars. In foreign harbours shall behold "Twill be as a friendly hand All is finished! and at length Slowly, in his splendours dight, [sight. His beard of snow Heaves with the heaving of his breast. With her foot upon the sands, Round her like a veil descending, The bride of the gray old sea. The prayer is said, [head; The joyous bridegroom bows his And in tears the good old Master Shakes the brown hand of his son, Kisses his daughter's glowing cheek In silence, for he cannot speak, And ever faster Down his own the tears begin to run. The shepherd of that wandering flock, Of the sailor's heart, All its pleasures and its griefs, course. Therefore he spake, and thus said he :- Seems at its distant rim to rise [skies, Ah! it is not the sea, It is not the sea that sinks and shelves, Then the Master, With a gesture of command, Loud and sudden there was heard, She starts, she moves-she seems to feel The thrill of life along her keel, With one exulting, joyous bound, And lo! from the assembled crowd There rose a shout, prolonged and loud, That to the ocean seemed to say,"Take her, O bridegroom, old and For gentleness and love and trust Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee,-are all with thee! THE EVENING STAR. JUST above yon sandy bar, As the day grows fainter and dim * THE SECRET OF THE SEA. AH! what pleasant visions haunt me As I gaze upon the sea! All the old romantic legends, All my dreams come back to me. Sails of silk and ropes of sendal, Such as gleam in ancient lore; And the singing of the sailors, And the answer from the shore ! Most of all, the Spanish ballad Haunts me oft, and tarries long, Of the noble Count Arnaldos And the sailor's mystic song. Like the long waves on a sea-beach, Where the sand as silver shines, With a soft, monotonous cadence, Flow its unrhymed lyric lines ;-Telling how the Count Arnaldos, With his hawk upon his hand, Saw a fair and stately galley Steering onward to the land ;How he heard the ancient helmsman Chant a song so wild and clear, That the sailing sea-bird slowly Poised upon the mast to hear Till his soul was full of longing, And he cried, with impulse strong,"Helmsman! for the love of heaven, Teach me, too, that wondrous song!" "Wouldst thou,"-so the helmsman answered, "Learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers Comprehend its mystery! In each sail that skims the horizon, Hear those mournful melodies; For the secret of the sea, And the heart of the great ocean Sends a thrilling pulse through me. TWILIGHT. THE twilight is sad and cloudy, The wind blows wild and free, And like the wings of sea-birds Flash the white caps of the sea. But in the fisherman's cottage There shines a ruddier light, And a little face at the window Close, close it is pressed to the window, As if those childish eyes And a woman's waving shadow Now bowing and bending low. And the night-wind, bleak and wild, As they beat at the crazy casement, Tell to that little child? And why do the roaring ocean, And the night-wind, wild and bleak, As they beat at the heart of the mother, Drive the colour from her cheek? SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT.* SOUTHWARD with fleet of ice Sailed the corsair Death; Wild and fast blew the blast, And the east wind was his breath. His lordly ships of ice Glistened in the sun; On each side, like pennons wide, His sails of white sea-mist Dripped with silver rain; But where he passed there were cast Leaden shadows o'er the main. Eastward from Campobello Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed; Three days or more seaward he bore, Then, alas! the land-wind failed. Alas! the land-wind failed, And ice-cold grew the night; "When the wind abated and the vessels were near enough, the Admiral was seen constantly sitting in the stern, with a book in his hand. On the 9th of Sept mber he was seen for the last time, and was heard by the people of the Hind to say, 'We are as near heaven by sea as by land.' In the following night the lights of the ship suddenly disappeared. The people in the other vessel kept a good look-out for him during the remainder of the voyage. On the 22nd of September they arrived through much tempest at Falmouth. But nothing more was seen or heard of the Admiral."-BELKNAP'S American Biography, i, 203. |