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TO A RETIRED SEAMAN.



How pleasant, when the toils of life,
   And ruder cares have pass'd away,
To turn from troubled floods and gain
   The shelter of some quiet bay,

And there refit the shatter'd sails
   That time and chance have sorely tried,
And meditate, as peaceful years
   Glide on, to meet the eternal tide.

Tis thus with thee, whose course hath been
   O'er many a sea and many a shore,
Where battle thunders shook the main
   Or winds and waves in conflict roar.