Page:Scenes in my Native Land.pdf/47

While on the far horizon, many a sail
Loomed up conspicuous, as the western sun
Involved himself in clouds.
                                         One house there was,
Where the light-keeper and his family
Dwelt, sole inhabitants, but yet not sad
In that lone place. Young children brought them love,
That other name for happiness, and they
Who dwell in love, do taste on earth, of heaven.
Beneath that peaceful, lowly roof, we found
Order and neatness, and such table spread
As might the wearied traveller well content;
Though all night long, the melancholy main
Held conflict with the rocks.
                                         Returning morn
Saw us explorers of the sterile coast,
Shell-gatherers and wave-watchers, oft-times lost
In that long trance of meditation sweet,
Which on the borders of the solemn deep
Best visiteth the soul.
                               And then we turned,
Our way retracing, to that southern point
Where our brief summer-residence we held,
Amid such draughts of ocean's bracing air,
And soothing habitudes of rural life,
So primitive, so simple, so serene,
That languid nerve, and wasted, drooping mind
Alike revivify.
                   But first, we bade