Page:Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, Hitherto unpublished, 1921.djvu/166

 I LOOK ACROSS THE OCEAN

(DATE UNCERTAIN)

The following verses show a poem not altogether complete, although it seems that another two lines might have rounded it out. In any case, it is unique among the manuscripts of Stevenson, in that it is addressed to America. It is written in a spirit of great faith in the future of our country and exhibits an almost mystic tensity in the hope it cherishes for what America shall achieve.

I LOOK ACROSS THE OCEAN

I look across the ocean,

And kneel upon the shore,

I look out seaward—westward,

My heart swells more and more.

I see the great new nation,

New spirit and new scope

Rise there from the sea's round shoulder,—

A splendid sun of hope!

I see it and I tremble—

My voice is full of tears—

America tread softly,

You bear the fruit of years.

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