I HER brave sea-bulwarks builded strong No tides uproot, no storms appal; By sea-blown tamarisks the throng Of idlers pace her broad sea-wall; Rain-plashed the long-lit pavements gleam; Still press the gay groups to and fro; Dark midnight deepens; on they stream; The wheels, the clattering horses go. II But that wave-limit close anear, Which kissed at morn the children's play, With dusk becomes a phantom fear, Throws in the night a ghostly spray:— O starless waste! remote despair! Deep-weltering wildness, pulsing gloom! As tho' the whole world's heart was there, And all the whole world's heart a tomb. III Eternal sounds the waves' refrain; "Eternal night,"—they moan and say,— "Eternal peace, eternal pain, Press close upon your dying day. Who, who at once beyond the bound, What world-worn soul will rise and flee,— Leave the crude lights and clamorous sound, And trust the darkness and the sea?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SUICIDE by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE PROTESTATION by THOMAS CAREW DORA VERSUS ROSE by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON ODES IV, 7. TO TORQUATUS. DIFFUGERE NIVES by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS THE BOSPHORUS REVISITED by SEYMOUR GREEN WHEELER BENJAMIN THE TEAMSTER by MATHILDE BLIND |