And now I part from thee with pain, For haply I may ne'er again List to thy music wild; Sit on thy marge and gaze away Farewell! thou wonder of the earth, Coeval, perhaps, with time, That swept, ere yon bright orb had birth, In darkness, ere the all-forming God Earth's image of eternity!— The sea, the sea for me! The Shannon and Chesapeake, JUNE 1, 1813. The following little Poem records one of the most gallant actions of the late war between Great Britain and America. Compositions such as these are not meant to encourage a spirit of national rivalry, when the causes of dissension are happily subsided, but to preserve such a remembrance of heroic events as should keep alive that universal patriotism which is the best shield against a future danger, however distant be the period of its recur rence. OFT blew the gale, and fair the day SOF Rose on the broad Atlantic tide; And not a cloud obscured the ray That gilded all that ocean wide; The Sea. But when in anger tempest-driven, The majesty of God,- And knocking at the boldest heart; Those reinless waters haughtily In their own freedom strong;— The shore is man's, the waves are free- I was a child when first I laid And all my youthful years I made Absence of years doth but increase 15 And now part from thee with pain, Nature's primeval child, For haply I may ne'er again. List to thy music wild; Sit on thy marge and gaze away Hours on thy hoary sparkling spray, Dwelling upon strange thoughts of thee.— The sea, the sea for me! Farewell! thou wonder of the earth, Coeval, perhaps, with time, That swept, ere yon bright orb had birth, In darkness, ere the all-forming God The sea, the sea for me! The Shannon and Chesapeake, JUNE 1, 1813. The following little Poem records one of the most gallant actions of the late war between Great Britain and America. Compositions such as these are not meant to encourage a spirit of national rivalry, when the causes of dissension are happily subsided, but to preserve such a remembrance of heroic events as should keep alive that universal patriotism which is the best shield against a future danger, however distant be the period of its recur rence. OFT blew the gale, and fair the day SOFT Rose on the broad Atlantic tide; And not a cloud obscured the ray That gilded all that ocean wide; The Shannon and Chesapeake. And haply not an angry spray Broke on the ship's majestic side, That glided through that tranquil deep, Her silent, cautious watch to keep. And lonely there she wore till noom, Yon trim-built frigate's haughty band: For 'twas a day of British fame, A day which taught the seamen still To think of HOWE'S triumphant name, And glow with all a patriot's thrill; And not a man that day, for shame, Would bend his fearless, haughty will, To crouch whilst any Western foe Should dash the British pennon low. Forth from the port, in gallant trim, The fearless chieftain gaily sweeps, And swears no British sail shall swim So proud in Massachusett's deeps; "Come, fill a goblet to the brim; We'll crowd her deck with slaughter'd heaps, And haul her to our gazing shore, Ere two short hours of chase are o'er." And now the swelling sails are set, Aloof the rival vessels sail ; B And now the gallant foes are met; Four mighty broadsides swept each deck, But soon the doubtful fight was done, Each Briton storm'd the foeman's hold; As o'er the slippery decks they roll'd ;In vain they fight, in vain they die,England's proud red cross waves on high! And now that sea, once more serene, The captors sought a friendly shore;— No unmix'd smile of pleasure wore, For many a seaman found his grave In that becalm'd Atlantic wave. |