Page:A Treasury of South African Poetry.djvu/277

 THE STRENGTH OF LIFE. wild waves dash on the storm-beat sands
 * In fierce, tempestuous glee;

And the cold grey rocks are madly lashed
 * In colder, greyer sea;

The fisherman's wife is on her knees,
 * And the laughing boy is still;

For a frail bark strives in the surging main
 * To combat Nature's will.

The pain-pierced eyes are tearless,
 * And the suffering lips are white,

For aching heart and throbbing brain
 * Heave with tumultuous might.

Ah! sad for the passionate soul,
 * Whose fierce, mad strength is vain

To stem the surging tide of woe,
 * Or vanquish and restrain.

But the wavelets creep on the sun-lit shore,
 * Breaking in fitful glee;

And the fisher-boy marks from the gleaming rocks
 * Shades on the azure sea;

The mother sings to her sleeping babe
 * While the fisherman mends his net,

And a thousand storms have changed to calm
 * Since day arose and set.