Clinton Scollard

“ And so amid the deep sea din, And so amid the wastes of foam, Afar his heart was happy in His highland home!
THE WIND AND THE SEA Never the long wind dieth, Never, never, But sigheth, crieth, In its old endeavor, Where the shifting sand and shingle Meet and mingle, And the lifting land and the surge of the waters sever! Never the long wind faileth. ”

“ O great deep, Give up your host of stately presences, Adventurers and sea-heroes of old time, And let them pass before us down the day In proud procession, so that we who hear Dull bells mark off the uneventful hours May glimpse the bygone bravery of the world Now moiling in its multitudinous marts, Forgetful of fair faith and high resolve In the inglorious grapple after gold! ”

“ DUSK AT SEA Dusk, like a moth of violet wing, descends Upon the beryl bosom of the sea, And in the sky's serene immensity, Where the impalpable rose of sunset blends With pearl and purple, shine the sailor's friends, God's blessed beacons twinkling timorously, Then brighter, each in its divine degree, To where the enrapt range of vision ends. ”

“ And the breakers' loud refrain Gives the shuddering heart no peace. Lord of all the things that be, Pity Thou the souls at sea! Snugly roofed with warmth and glow, And encompassed soft by sleep, Little we land-dwellers know Of the terrors of the deep. Lord, in Thy sweet charity, Pity Thou the souls at sea! ”

“ A SAILOR AMID THE HILLS What does he hear in dreams? The surging wind, Its long-drawn cadence, its wild harmony, A mighty harp of infinite strings designed, Whose sound to him seems sweet immeasurably? ”

“ Now the waves Lap languorously along the foamless sand, And till the far horizon swims in mist. Out of this murk, across this oily sweep, Might lost armadas grandly sail to shore; Jason might oar on Argo, or the stern Surge-wanderer from Ithaca's bleak isle Break on the sight, or Viking prows appear, And still not waken wonder. Aye, the sound Of siren singing might drift o'er the main, And yet not fall upon amazèd ears! The soul is ripe for marvels. ”

“ When dusk droops dark o'er life's uncertain seas, Closing our day, deep-shadowing the sun, And we go forth across death's pathless foam, May we have stars more stedfast e'en than these,— Burning above, for us to gaze upon, Both light and guide on the long journey home. ”

“ Below, the surge, the solemn surge, Murmured and moaned unceasingly, For all its golden past a dirge— Saint Sepulchre's beside the sea. And love and hate were here as one; Life blent with death harmoniously; 'Twas beauty in oblivion— Saint Sepulchre's beside the sea!
SEA LYRICS I We heard the breakers clash and boom; We saw them plunge and writhe and rise, And toss great flakes of ashen spume High toward the ashen skies. Out of the welter of the east One gaunt barque like a spectre bore; The mad wind trumpeted, then ceased, Then trumpeted once more. ”

“ Aye, here eternal calm seems set In bland beatitude, and yet A single potent hour, aye, less, Can change this placid loveliness, And cause, where life smiles fair and fain, The raging demon death to reign! ”