Outward 1553 "ROCKED IN THE CRADLE OF THE DEEP" ROCKED in the cradle of the deep I lay me down in peace to sleep; For Thou, O Lord! hast power to save. When in the dead of night I lie And such the trust that still were mine, And calm and peaceful shall I sleep, Rocked in the cradle of the deep. Emma Harl Willard [1787-1870] OUTWARD WHITHER away, O Sailor! say? Never port shall lift for me Into the sky, out of the sea! Into the blue or into the black, Sailor under sun and moon, 'Tis the ocean's fatal rune. Under yon far rim of sky Onward, outward I must go On this purple-tented sea. Star and Wind and Sun my brothers, Ocean one of many mothers. Onward under sun and star Where the weird adventures are! Never port shall lift for me I am Wind and Sky and Sea! John G. Neihardt [1881 A PASSER-BY WHITHER, O splendid ship, thy white sails crowding, That fearest nor sea rising, nor sky clouding, fair rover, and what thy quest? Whither away, Wilt thou glide on the blue Pacific, or rest In a summer haven asleep, thy white sails furling. I there before thee, in the country that well thou knowest, I watch thee enter unerringly where thou goest, Off Rivière du Loup Thy sails for awnings spread, thy masts bare: 1555 Nor is aught from the foaming reef to the snow-capped grandest Peak, that is over the feathery palms, more fair Than thou, so upright, so stately and still thou standest. And yet, O splendid ship, unhailed and nameless, From the proud nostril curve of a prow's line In the offing scatterest foam, thy white sails crowding. OFF RIVIÈRE DU LOUP O SHIP incoming from the sea The sunset pageant in the west That crashes into silver snows! You know the joy of coming home, Between these somber purple hills You will toss onward toward the lights You will go on beyond the tide, At evening off some reedy bay Soft blowing from the pleasant plain. Duncan Campbell Scott [1862 CHRISTMAS AT SEA THE sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand; The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand; The wind was a nor'-wester, blowing squally off the sea; And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee. They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day; All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North; All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth; All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread, For very life and nature we tacked from head to head. We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared; But every tack we made brought the North Head close aboard; So's we saw the cliffs and houses, and the breakers running high, And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye. Christmas at Sea 1557 The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam; The good red fires were burning bright in every 'longshore home; The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out; And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about. The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer; For it's just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year) This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn, And the house above the coastguard's was the house where I was born. O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there, And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me, Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea; And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way, To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas Day. They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall. "All hands to loose topgallant sails," I heard the captain call. "By the Lord, she'll never stand it," our first mate, Jackson, cried. "It's the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson," he replied. She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good, And the ship smelt up to windward, just as though she understood. As the winter's day was ending, in the entry of the night, We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light. |