Page:The poems of Richard Watson Gilder, Gilder, 1908.djvu/474

446 Not even a dream of the night had employ in it;

No cloud dimmed the blue;

Then I said: "Shall I miss

My nameless, new bliss?"

When sudden it came

Like lightning, like flame;

And, ah, it was this—

It was you!

"WHEN THE WAR FLEET PUTS TO SEA"

the war fleet puts to sea,

And the great guns thunder,

Our hearts leap up in glee

And awe and wonder—

When the war fleet puts to sea.

Let it be peace, not war,

The strong ships carry;

Two coasts that stretch afar

Now meet and marry—

Let it be peace, not war.

And let no ill befall!

Be kind, ye fates!

Stern skies preserve them all

In the stormy straits—

O, let no ill befall.

And if dread war shall loom

In far-off days,

Let the shotted cannon boom

In prayer and praise—

If dreadful war shall loom.