The Poetical Works of Jonathan E. Hoag/A Midsummer Dream

by Jonathan E. Hoag

A Midsummer Dream

I have stood beside the oceans,
  And have looked far out to sea,
While the whitened sails were gleaming;
  And strange thoughts came over me.

I have tasted of their waters,
  While their breezes touched my face;
And I breathed their salty fragrance,
  Wishing ne'er to leave the place.

And I heard the rush of waters,
  As they laved the whitened shore;
And the booming of the billows,
  With their everlasting roar.

Then I seemed to see before me
  Some great scroll of pearly white;
Though I traced the lines but dimly,
  By the fast receding light.

Was I dreaming or still waking,
  In the shadow of the day?
Still I heard the sea's deep moaning,
  While in stupor there I lay.

For it seemed the veil had vanished!
  White gulls flecked the sky so gray.
Twilight haze seemed brooding o'er me.
  Inspiration? Who can say?

O thou great and fair Pacific!
  As I mark thy mighty tide,
Changeless through the changing ages,
  Thou, like Time, dost still abide!

White thy sands, as bleached by sunshine;
  Wild the waves that lash thy shore.
Giant whales are ever spouting;
  Steamers churn thy waters o'er.

Far within thy mighty caverns.
  Wealth untold lies buried deep;
Here lie hearts once loved and loving,
  Lulled to everlasting sleep.

1921