Page:Poems for the Sea.djvu/34

 Young Beauty, in her gilded barge Like Egypt's haughty queen , For whom, 'tis said, the world was lost, With graceful form is seen; The morn is fair, the breeze is rare, And gliding on her way, She deems each billow's flashing crest To her, doth homage pay. Reef sails! Reef sails!—I see a cloud Athwart the noontide skies,— A lonely strand, a wreck-strewn sand,— Be timely wise.

Pride steers ahead, with canvas spread, And top-mast towering high, Regardless of the warning winds That thro' the shrouds do sigh. Reef sails!—'tis not for him of dust For whom the worm doth wait, To magnify the fleeting trust Of wealth, or high estate.