Sea-Visions
"And some with wounds I stood aghast to view,
Like vanquished pirates in their wrath, lay there,
And some, like captains murdered by their crew,
Lay scowling in their impotent despair.
Like vanquished pirates in their wrath, lay there,
And some, like captains murdered by their crew,
Lay scowling in their impotent despair.
"Those whom the sea with holy rites received
Slept smiling as if dreaming of the shore,
As if in their fond fancy they believed
They yet might meet the friends they met no more.
Slept smiling as if dreaming of the shore,
As if in their fond fancy they believed
They yet might meet the friends they met no more.
"So on and on I went, until my feet
Paused suddenly before a door still closed;
It opened—fearing the dead glance to meet,
I looked—and there the well-known form reposed.
Paused suddenly before a door still closed;
It opened—fearing the dead glance to meet,
I looked—and there the well-known form reposed.
"Composed in look, as she had slept or years
In her lone burial vault, lay that sweet face.
She knew me not. Eternities of tears
Would not have washed her from her resting-place.
In her lone burial vault, lay that sweet face.
She knew me not. Eternities of tears
Would not have washed her from her resting-place.
I would have touched the pale, pale sleeper's hand,
But something held me back, I knew not what;
Recoiling, by the door I took my stand—
Heaven, sea, and land, all (save her face) forgot.
But something held me back, I knew not what;
Recoiling, by the door I took my stand—
Heaven, sea, and land, all (save her face) forgot.
"I called her name. She heard not, but the voice
Of passion with its sudden agony,
Unbound my senses—round me roared the noise
Of waters and I started from the sea.
Of passion with its sudden agony,
Unbound my senses—round me roared the noise
Of waters and I started from the sea.
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