How many a wave, O shore of life, to thee Has flowed, and murmuring, teased thine ignorance! How many a derelict from the winds of chance Has signaled some unguessed eternity! The passion and pulse and power of all the sea Fills the thin foam with fierce significance, And thro' the sea-moods, to the deeper glance, Pierces the same intention utterly. Still, from life's shores to sea-ward, can the soul, Glimmering in dawn, spread out a wider pool Of light and vision till shadows flow to flame, As one by one we dare include the whole Of human change within our scope, nor school Our hearts to virtue more than sin and shame. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MA LADY'S LIPS AM LIKE DE HONEY (NEGRO LOVE SONG) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON BOOTH'S PHILIPPI by EDGAR LEE MASTERS TO A FRIEND IN THE MAKING by MARIANNE MOORE DEATH SNIPS PROUD MEN by CARL SANDBURG TO A FRIEND by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS |