OUR bark is on the waters deep, our bright blade's in our hand, Our birthright is the ocean vast -- we scorn the girdled land; And the hollow wind is our music brave, and none can bolder be Than the hoarse-tongued tempest raving o'er a proud and swelling sea! Our bark is dancing on the waves, its tall masts quivering bend Before the gale, which hails us now with the hollo of a friend; And its prow is sheering merrily the upcurled billow's foam, While our hearts, with throbbing gladness, cheer old Ocean as our home! Our eagle-wings of might we stretch before the gallant wind, And we leave the tame and sluggish earth a dim mean speck behind; We shoot into the untracked deep, as earth-freed spirits soar, Like stars of fire through boundless space -- through realms without a shore! Lords of this wide-spread wilderness of waters, we bound free, The haughty elements alone dispute our sovereignty; No landmark doth our freedom let, for no law of man can mete The sky which arches o'er our head -- the waves which kiss our feet! The warrior of the land may back the wild horse, in his pride; But a fiercer steed we dauntless breast -- the untamed ocean tide; And a nobler tilt our bark careers, as it quells the saucy wave, While the Herald storm peals o'er the deep the glories of the brave. Hurrah! hurrah! the wind is up -- it bloweth fresh and free, And every cord, instinct with life, pipes loud its fearless glee; Big swell the bosomed sails with joy, and they madly kiss the spray, As proudly, through the foaming surge, the Sea-King bears away! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EACH IN HIS OWN TONGUE by WILLIAM HERBERT CARRUTH OUR GOOD PRESIDENT by PHOEBE CARY THE COUNTRY CLERGYMAN'S TRIP TO CAMBRIDGE; ELECTION BALLAD by THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY THE THINKER'S VISION by WILLIAM ROSE BENET THE WANDERER: 2. IN FRANCE: A REMEMBRANCE by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |