Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/227

 I saw them, and in shade or sun, Thy armies of dark waves roll on; In fierceness and in strength they bore Their plumèd heads—till on the shore Each thundered, and was known no more. But still where'er the glancing eye Spans the wide sweep of shore and sky, Yet other hosts are gathering near, Yet other hills of foam appear; And onward o'er the deep they roar, To seek their brethren on the shore— Like them to thunder, and be seen no more!

Yet once I saw thee in a mood So gentle, smiling, and subdued, That scarcely might a streamlet lie More calm beneath a summer's sky; The winds were sleeping on thy breast, Thy distant billows were at rest; And every breaker (fierce no more), Just sparkled, and then kissed the shore; While heaven's arched brow was azure bright, And all its watchers shone that night; And where thy waters seemed to swell, A meek and trembling radiance fell, For like a virgin-spirit stood The crescent moon above thy flood. And snowing clouds around her stole, Like dreams upon a youthful soul!

Who then that saw thee, giant king! So silent and so slumbering, Had dreamt that once thy waters ran, O'erwhelming every haunt of man; That sun and star long rose and set Alone on thy dark waters, yet And but for one small sacred ark Had found no living thing to mark This world, as from her sister earth Called into being ere their birth!

'Tis past! Thy billowy pride no more May sweep beyond the girdling shore! 'Tis past! Thy mountain waves still rage, But at thy Maker's word assuage; And meek and trembling as a child, At His command art thou, the wonderful, the wild!