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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ON RETURN FROM THE SHORE, by HELEN IFFLA BAY
First Line: Surely he made his sea for solitude
Last Line: Perhaps it was for this he made his sea.
Subject(s): Creation; God; Sea; Ocean
First Line: Surely he made his sea for solitude
Last Line: Perhaps it was for this he made his sea.
Subject(s): Creation; God; Sea; Ocean
Surely He made His sea for solitude --
For sun-drenched noons, and for the rapt blue night,
When the long surges rock in tranquil mood,
And deck their quiet breasts with star dust bright.
Surely He meant no heedless eye to see
The veiled mist maidens whirl amid the spray,
Or the white horses charging endlessly
Embattled crags, that hold them still at bay.
How does He bear this idle travesty,
This clangor as of brazen horns, this flare
Of lights that mock the high stars' majesty,
This Comus rout, this haste to herd and stare?
How does He bear the crowds that chase and brawl
Like tangled fringe about a silken shawl?
But hold! Is there, in all this multitude,
One heart that feels, in the wide beaches' sweep,
The wing-soft clasp, the watching eyes that brood --
Hears, in the diapason of the deep,
The steadfast promise of eternity?
Perhaps it was for this He made His sea.
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CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS
THE FIGUREHEAD by LEONIE ADAMS
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