Page:Poems for the Sea.djvu/50

 Ere came the parting hour: for he was bound Upon a three years' cruise.

He cheer'd his bride, With promises to tempt the sea no more, But after this, one farewell voyage, to rear A cottage mid their native hills, where all Her favorite flowers might grow, and dwell content Forever at her side.

So, forth he went, The dauntless Captain of a hardy crew, To barb the monarch whale, mid arctic floods. 'Twere hard to tell, how loneliness and woe, Chill'd her young breast, and how thro' midnight storms She sleepless wept&mdash;or from some broken dream Of shipwreck, and the swimmer spent with toil, Sprang up, affrighted.

But with that good sense Which marks a well-train'd mind, she quell'd her grief By industry, and kindliest sympathies In other's woe. Still for her parent's weal, Both hand and heart were busy,&mdash;by the bed Of the poor sick she sate, or fed the young