LITMIR.BIZ

      "With oaken brace and copper band

      Lay the rudder on the sand,

      That, like a thought, should have control

      Over the movement of the whole;

      And near it the anchor, whose giant hand

      Should reach down and grapple with the land,

      And immovable, and fast

      Hold the great ship against the bellowing blast!"

      "There she stands,

      With her foot upon the sands,

      Decked with flags and streamers gay,

      In honour of her marriage-day;

      Her snow-white signals fluttering, blending,

      Round her like a veil descending,

      Ready to be

      The bride of the grey old sea.

      On the deck another bride

      Is standing by her lover's side,

      Shadows from the flags and shrouds,

      Like the shadows cast by clouds,

      Broken by many a sunny fleck,

      Fall around them on the deck.

      Then the master

      With a gesture of command,

      Waved his hand.

      And at the word,

      Loud and sudden there was heard,

      All around them and below,

      The sound of hammers, blow on blow,

      Knocking away the shores and spurs.

      And see! she stirs!

      She starts – she moves – she seems to feel

      The thrill of life along her keel,

      And spurning with her foot the ground,

      With one exulting joyous bound

      She leaps into the ocean's arms!

      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 grey,

      Take her to thy protecting arms,

      With all her youth and all her charms!'

      How beautiful she is! How fair

      She lies within those arms that press

      Her form with many a soft caress

      Of tenderness and watchful care!

      Sail forth into the sea, O ship!

      Through wind and wave right onward steer!

      The moistened eye, the trembling lip,

      Are not the signs of doubt or fear!

      Sail forth into the sea of life,

      O gentle, loving, trusting wife,

      And safe from all adversity

      Upon the bosom of that sea

      Thy comings and thy goings be!

      For gentleness, and love, and trust,

      Prevail o'er angry wave and gust.

      Thou too, sail on, O ship of state!

      Sail on, O Union, strong and great!

      Humanity, with all its fears,

      With all its hopes of future years,

      Is hanging breathless on thy fate!

      We know what master laid thy keel,

      What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,

      Who made each mast and sail and rope,

      What anvils rang, what hammers beat,

      In what a forge, and what a heat

      Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!

      Fear not each sudden sound and shock!

      'Tis of the wave, and not the rock;

      'Tis but the flapping of the sail

      And not a rent made by the gale!

      In spite of rock and tempest roar,

      In spite of false lights on the shore,

      Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!

      Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,

      Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,

      Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,

      Are all with thee – are all with thee!"

      "The mariner remembers when a child

      On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;

      And, when returning from adventures wild,

      He saw it rise again on ocean's brink.

      Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same

      Year after year, thro'all the silent night

      Burns on for evermore that quenchless flame,

      Shines on that inextinguishable light!

      The startled waves leap over it; the storm

      Smotes it with all the scourges of the rain,

      And steadily against its solid form

      Press the great shoulders of the hurricane."

      "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

      Peers out into the night.

      Close, close it is pressed to the window,

      As if these childish eyes

      Were looking into the darkness

      To

Скачать книгу