From “The Pelican Island”
EVERY one,
By instinct taught, performed its little task,—
To build its dwelling and its sepulchre,
From its own essence exquisitely modelled;
There breed, and die, and leave a progeny,
Still multiplied beyond the reach of numbers,
To frame new cells and tombs; then breed and die...
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For England when with favoring gale
Our gallant ship up channel steered,
And, scudding under easy sail,
The high blue western land appeared;
To heave the lead the seaman sprung,
And to the pilot cheerly sung,
“By the deep—nine!”And bearing up to gain the port,
Some well-known object kept in view,—
An... -
When in the storm on Albion’s coast,
The night-watch guards his weary post,
From thoughts of danger free,
He marks some vessel’s dusky form,
And hears, amid the howling storm,
The minute-gun at sea.Swift on the shore a hardy few
The life-boat man with a gallant crew
And dare the dangerous wave;
Through the... -
From “The British Fleet”
DESERTED by the waning moon,
When skies proclaim night’s cheerless noon,
On tower, or fort, or tented ground
The sentry walks his lonely round;
And should a footstep haply stray
Where caution marks the guarded way,
“Who goes there? Stranger, quickly tell!”
“A friend!” “The word?” “Good-night;” all ’s well... -
Loud roared the dreadful thunder,
The rain a deluge showers,
The clouds were rent asunder
By lightning’s vivid powers;
The night both drear and dark,
Our poor devoted bark,
Till next day, there she lay,
In the Bay of Biscay, O!Now dashed upon the billow,
Her opening timbers creak,
Each fears a watery... -
Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling,
The darling of our crew;
No more he ’ll hear the tempest howling,
For death has broached him to.
His form was of the manliest beauty,
His heart was kind and soft;
Faithful, below, he did his duty;
But now he ’s gone aloft.Tom never from his word departed,
His virtues... -
Ye mariners of England!
That guard our native seas;
Whose flag has braved, a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze!
Your glorious standard launch again
To match another foe!
And sweep through the deep,
While the stormy winds do blow;
While the battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy winds do blow.The...
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Cease, rude Boreas, blustering railer!
List, ye landsmen, all to me,
Messmates, hear a brother sailor
Sing the dangers of the sea;From bounding billows, first in motion,
When the distant whirlwinds rise,
To the tempest-troubled ocean,
Where the seas contend with skies.Hark! the boatswain hoarsely bawling,
... -
IN vain the cords and axes were prepared,
For now the audacious seas insult the yard;
High o’er the ship they throw a horrid shade,
And o’er her burst in terrible cascade.
Uplifted on the surge, to heaven she flies,
Her shattered top half buried in the skies,
Then headlong plunging thunders on the ground;
Earth groans! air trembles! and... -
From “The Excursion,” Book IV.
I HAVE seen
A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract
Of inland ground, applying to his ear
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell;
To which, in silence hushed, his very soul
Listened intensely; and his countenance soon
Brightened with joy; for from within were heard
...