Lydia Sigourney

“ Of shipwreck, and the swimmer spent with toil,
Sprang up, affrighted.
But with that good sense
Which marks a well-train'd mind, she quell'd her grief
By industry, and kindliest sympathies
In other's woe. Still for her parent's weal,
Both hand and heart were busy,—by the bed
Of the poor sick she sate, or fed the young
With dews of knowledge; for the love of books
And the pure faith of Christ, refined her soul. ”

“ When reef, and tempest threatened, or the power
Of the dread iceberg chill'd our veins with awe,
Methought I saw Him walking on the Sea
With hand outstretch'd, the trusting soul to save,
And so, was comforted. ”

“ Have felt their prowess dread;
And the British lion's lordly mane
Their victor might confessed,
For well their nation's faith and pride
They guard on Ocean's breast.
When strong Oppression fiercely frowns,
Her eagle rears its crest,
And means no bird of air shall pluck
His pinions, or his breast;
And brightest on the threatening cloud
Gleam out her stars of gold;
Huzza! for young Columbia's ships—
And for her seamen bold!
This work was published before January 1, 1928, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. ”

“ Should vigorous health once more
Reanimate my frame,
Inspire me with a purer zeal
To glorify Thy name,
To keep thy just commands,
My humbled heart incline,
And grant that both in life and death
Thy holy will be mine. ”

“ Where grows the spicy tree,
And where the broad La Plata rolls
Rich tribute to the sea.
I've climbed the shroud when storms blew loud,
And every star was dead,
And winter in the midnight cloud
Had muffled up her head ”

“ That bowed the proudest head,
Above us the eternal skies,
Beneath our feet the dead;
The dead who knew no burial rite,
Save storm, or battle cry,
Whose tombs are where the coral grows,
And the sea-monsters lie. ”

“ Midnight's cloud without a ray,
Darkening o'er our venturous way,
While the mountain wave is rolling,
And the ship's bell faintly tolling,
Helpless, Lord, and weak are we,
Let us turn for strength to Thee. ”

“ Like us, who dwell amid the blast,
And ride the wrathful sea?
The green trees shade you from the sun,
You watch the harvests grow,
And taste the fragrance of the gale,
When the first roses blow. ”

“ Oh may His shield be spread
In every time of need, around
My unprotected head.
His are the Ocean and the Land,
And man's frail, dying race,
And those who walk in pride, His Hand
Is able to abase. ”

“ We drink its healing tide,
So, like the trees Ezekiel saw
His vision'd flood beside,
May we with fresh, unfading leaf
Each changeful season dare,
And still the fruits of faith renew
Till Heaven's pure clime we share. ”

“ A Parent's blessing maketh strong,
Like guardian angel's wing.
Yes—thou shalt feel when o'er the wave
Thy bark by storms is driven,
A Parent's blessing maketh glad
Next to the hope of Heaven. ”

“ And upward to the Eternal Throne
The hymn of praise melodious sent.
But he, who fain would know how strong,
The soul's appeal to God may be,
From friends and native land should turn,
A wanderer o'er the faithless sea ”

“ The shatterd bark retrims her sails
And slowly holds her course;
The wearied men are faint, as they
Who with giant foes have striven,
But the trusting child, as he gently smiled
Seem'd like a guest from Heaven. ”

“ Earth hath her firesides, where the truant heart
Comes back, to be forgiven, where the soft touch
Of mother, or of sister, lures the boy,
And tames his fierceness, where the unshap'd sound
From infancy's fair lip, doth move the soul
With thrill unspeakable. ”

“ Its closing portion, commencing with "The Mother's blessing on her Sailor Son," is more particularly adapted to those, whose life is on the sea. In the dim forecastle, may it be as a sunbeam, brightening the memory of home, and its loved ones, and the hope of that better home, where no storm shall drive the bark astray, or divide the true-hearted. ”

“ While many a prayerful heart invoked
The Great Deliverer's power.
Up rose the morn, and touched the crowns
Of all those arctic kings,
With lustre of a thousand rays
That the rich diamond flings ”

“ For eastern toys and teas,
Unless our sails we sharply set
Across the Indian seas?
The farmer toils to plant his corn,
And then to hill and hoe it,
An honest-hearted man is he,
His sun-burnt features show it ”

“ Should smite us, Father! till we find
All earthly helpers vain,
Send forth thine Angel to the stream
That holy health can give;
And bid him stir its blessed wave,
That we may bathe, and live. ”

“ The blessings of this happy land,
Which heaven hath made its care;
Whose glorious flag is borne
High o'er the ocean's breast,
Whose strong-winged eagle proudly makes
Among the stars his nest. ”

“ Bitter words of strife it teacheth,
Striketh kind affections dead;
Even beyond the grave it reacheth,
To the judgment-bar of dread.
Have we any room to doubt it,
When its evil fruits we see? ”

“ Was o'er my bosom thrown,
The eherish'd forms of wife and child
Are sunbeams, though the storm is wild.
And when I pace the deck,
My midnight watch to keep,
I ask the never slumbering Eye
To guard their quiet sleep ”

“ How glorious is our lot,
And storms that strike a landsman pale,
Scarce stir our blood a jot,
Even, if our sails like ribbons fly,
And the dead-lights long are in,
Hard up the helm! and keep good heart! ”

“ Mourned for the sailor-boy.
Now, sometimes while my watch I keep
At lonely midnight, on the deep,
When all is calm and clear,
I seem to hear his well known voice,
"Oh, messmate, make your God your choice. ”

“ When its thundering breakers roar,
And a meek hearted pupil be
Of their terrific lore.
Hark! while the tempests lower,
To the lessons of the wave,
"One Voice alone, can curb our power,
One Hand alone, can save." ”

“ Wearing the plague-spot of the sickening spray,
And know what trouble I for thee have made,
Yet still bear on, meek partner of my way,
For in thy life, I keep the golden chain,
Of home, and its delights, here on the lonely main. ”

“ You wish it were not so,
But I should have no food or fire,
Unless you sometimes go.
When slow the sunset fades away,
And twilight mists appear,
The sound of your returning step
Is music to my ear ”

“ To distant regions turn,
Their tender language in our hearts
Like cherished flame shall burn.
What though the voice beloved
Reply not to our pain,
We'll keep its music in our souls,
Until we meet again. ”

“ All speak of man, and moulder while they speak.
But, of whose architecture, and design,
Tell thine eternal fountains, when they rise
To combat with the clouds, or when they fall?
Of whose strong culture, speak thy sunless plants? ”

“ ORACLE FOR SEAMEN.
[It is a fable of heathen mythology, that the ship Argo was built of oaks from the sacred groves of Dodonia, which were endowed with the gift of prophecy; so that the masts and timbers gave oracular advice to the Argonautic adventurers, and saved them from many threatening calamities.]
Dodonian Oaks were those, ye say
That warn'd the sailor on his way,
When in old time, with peril fraught.
The Argonautic fleece he saught. ”

“ Where battle thunders shook the main
Or winds and waves in conflict roar.
But now, thy cheerful hearth beside
Thy happier lot it is to see
Domestic comfort flourish fair,
And yield its cherish'd fruits to thee. ”

“ And shrieking throngs, with frantic haste
Essay its power to save;
A fragile thing, it darkly strives
Amid the wrathful tide,
And deep, unutter'd pangs are theirs
Who leave that vessel's side. ”

“ Sight of visioned forms that sweep
O'er the castle's ruined steep?
Sight of haunts to history dear?
Sight of palace, king, or peer?
No! the joy that lights the eye
When the native shore draws nigh. ”

“ That upheld us when we prayed,
Or the sacred promise break
That in danger's hour we made?
No. Upon our spirits seal
This memorial of Thy praise,
And the grateful love we feel
Make as lasting as our days. ”

“ That your good conduct is our wealth,
Your stainless name, our pride.
Be firm and honest, kind and true,
In sunshine, or in blast,
And make your duty, your delight,
Where'er your lot is cast. ”

“ Take good heed, my hearts of oak,
Lest her terrible flukes, as she tortured lies,
Wildly hurl us to the skies:
But see! the pride of her strength is broke,
Heavy she lies, as a mass of lead,
The mighty monarch-whale is dead! ”

“ Safe in thy cold and strong embrace
This precious form to keep;
Till at the trumpet's sound,
Which fills the world with dread,
Thy caverns, and the graves of earth
Shall render up their dead ”

“ Guide us, wheresoe'er we go.
When the lonely watch we keep,
Silent, on the midnight deep;
While the boisterous surges hoarse.
Bear us darkly on our course;
Eye, that never slumbers! shed
Holy influence on our head. ”

“ Yet rather would my listening ear
The wild birds of my country hear.
I've sailed where Chimborazo towers
Amid old Andes' giant chain,
And where the bright Brazilian flowers
Pour living fragrance o'er the plain ”

“ Drink, and your strength repair;
The farmer with his toil-brown hands,
The soldier, tired of slaughter,
The camel mid the burning sands,
Drink deep the crystal water.
Our father Sun the example gives,
Our mother Earth also ”

“ So terrible in beauty frowned,
So pitiless in wrath.
*The scene here described occurred to the steamship "Great Western," which on her voyage between Europe and the United States, in 1841, passed through a fleet of icebergs, reported by Capt. Hoskins, as between three and four hundred in number, headed by one larger than the rest, whose length was computed at three quarters of a mile, and its entire altitude, above and below the surface, at four hundred feet. ”

“ THE HERO.
[The following incident took place during the great conflagration in the city of New York, on the cold night of December 16th, 1836.]
Ah! fearful was the sight!
The fire devouring spread
From roof to roof, from street to street,
And on their treasures fed ”

“ Hymen's waters is a reference to marriage. ↑ Lavish or imprudent expenditure; extravagance. ↑ Ether here refers to the skies or the heavens ↑ Reef here means to bring down part or all of the sails. In stormy weather a sailing ship's masts could be torn off if the sails were not brought down or made smaller. ↑ Cleopatra ↑ For example, Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra: The World Well Lost. ”