Page:Moyarra- An Australian Legend in Two Cantos, 1891.djvu/40

 His bark with undulating motion In joyous mask beguiled the task Which bore him to the restless ocean; Where, shuddering at the billows' roar Vainly he seeks the varied shore. His faithful spirit from his sight Fades, wrapt in shades of dubious night: He asks in vain the heaven o'erarched, A sulphurous glare its hues hath parched; And vapours dim are gathering fast: The cloud-winged thunderstorm unfurls Its gloomy pinions to the blast; Each lurid mass at random hurls The lightning's intermittent light Whose ghastly vision quails the sight. His bark reels through the trackless foam Staggering beneath the wild waves' shock: Is there no hope to avert his doom? No way to shun th' impending stroke? The vengeful demon of the storm Seemed now endowed with palpable form: Like an eagle he swooped from his airy height; The blood of his victim ran cold at the sight: He shrunk from the breath of the sable plume