<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=409682" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Building of the Ship</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">&quot;Build me straight, O worthy Master! <br> Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel, <br> That shall laugh at all disaster, <br> And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!&quot; <br> The merchant's word <br> Delighted the Master heard; <br> For his heart was in his work, and the heart <br> Giveth grace unto every Art. <br> A quiet smile played round his lips, <br> As the eddies and dimples of the tide <br> Play round the bows of ships, <br> That steadily at anchor ride. <br> And with a voice that was full of glee, <br> He answered, &quot;Erelong we will launch <br> A vessel as goodly, and strong, and stanch, <br> As ever weathered a wintry sea!&quot; <br> And first with nicest skill and art, <br> Perfect and finished in every part, <br> A little model the Master wrought, <br> Which should be to the larger plan <br> What the child is to the man, <br> Its counterpart in miniature; <br> That with a hand more swift and sure <br> The greater labor might be brought <br> To answer to his inward thought. <br> And as he labored, his mind ran o'er <br> The various ships that were built of yore, <br> And above them all, and strangest of all <br> Towered the Great Harry, crank and tall, <br> Whose picture was hanging on the wall, <br> With bows and stern raised high in air, <br> And balconies hanging here and there, <br> And signal lanterns and flags afloat, <br> And eight round towers, like those that frown <br> From some old castle, looking down <br> Upon the drawbridge and the moat. <br> And he said with a smile, &quot;Our ship, I wis, <br> Shall be of another form than this!&quot; <br> It was of another form, indeed; <br> Built for freight, and yet for speed, <br> A beautiful and gallant craft; <br> Broad in the beam, that the stress of the blast, <br> Pressing down upon sail and mast, <br> Might not the sharp bows overwhelm; <br> Broad in the beam, but sloping aft <br> With graceful curve and slow degrees, <br> That she might be docile to the helm, <br> And that the currents of parted seas, <br> Closing behind, with mighty force, <br> Might aid and not impede her course. <br> In the ship-yard stood the Master, <br> With the model of the vessel, <br> That should laugh at all disaster, <br> And with wave and whirlwind wrestle! <br> Covering many a rood of ground, <br> Lay the timber piled around; <br> Timber of chestnut, and elm, and oak, <br> And scattered here and there, with these, <br> The knarred and crooked cedar knees; <br> Brought from regions far away, <br> From Pascagoula's sunny bay, <br> And the banks of the roaring Roanoke! <br> Ah! what a wondrous thing it is <br> To note how many wheels of toil <br> One thought, one word, can set in motion! <br> There 's not a ship that sails the ocean, <br> But every climate, every soil, <br> Must bring its tribute, great or small, <br> And help to build the wooden wall! <br> The sun was rising o'er the sea, <br> And long the level shadows lay, <br> As if they, too, the beams would be <br> Of some great, airy argosy, <br> Framed and launched in a single day. <br> That silent architect, the sun, <br> Had hewn and laid them every one, <br> Ere the work of man was yet begun. <br> Beside the Master, when he spoke, <br> A youth, against an anchor leaning, <br> Listened, to catch his slightest meaning. <br> Only the long waves, as they broke <br> In ripples on the pebbly beach, <br> Interrupted the old man's speech. <br> Beautiful they were, in sooth, <br> The old man and the fiery youth! <br> The old man, in whose busy brain <br> Many a ship that sailed the main <br> Was modelled o'er and o'er again; <br>-- <br> The fiery youth, who was to be <br> The heir of his dexterity, <br> The heir of his house, and his daughter's hand, <br> When he had built and launched from land <br> What the elder head had planned. <br>&quot;Thus,&quot; said he, &quot;will we build this ship! <br> Lay square the blocks upon the slip, <br> And follow well this plan of mine. <br> Choose the timbers with greatest care; <br> Of all that is unsound beware; <br> For only what is sound and strong <br> To this vessel shall belong. <br> Cedar of Maine and Georgia pine <br> Here together shall combine. <br> A goodly frame, and a goodly fame, <br> And the Union be her name! <br> For the day that gives her to the sea <br> Shall give my daughter unto thee!&quot; <br> The Master's word <br> Enraptured the young man heard; <br> And as he turned his face aside, <br> With a look of joy and a thrill of pride <br> Standing before <br> Her father's door, <br> He saw the form of his promised bride. <br> The sun shone on her golden hair, <br> And her cheek was glowing fresh and fair, <br> With the breath of morn and the soft sea air. <br> Like a beauteous barge was she, <br> Still at rest on the sandy beach, <br> Just beyond the billow's reach; <br> But he <br> Was the restless, seething, stormy sea! <br> Ah, how skilful grows the hand <br> That obeyeth Love's command! <br> It is the heart, and not the brain, <br> That to the highest doth attain, <br> And he who followeth Love's behest <br> Far excelleth all the rest! <br> Thus with the rising of the sun <br> Was the noble task begun, <br> And soon throughout the ship-yard's bounds <br> Were heard the intermingled sounds <br> Of axes and of mallets, plied <br> With vigorous arms on every side; <br> Plied so deftly and so well, <br> That, ere the shadows of evening fell, <br> The keel of oak for a noble ship, <br> Scarfed and bolted, straight and strong, <br> Was lying ready, and stretched along <br> The blocks, well placed upon the slip. <br> Happy, thrice happy, every one <br> Who sees his labor well begun, <br> And not perplexed and multiplied, <br> By idly waiting for time and tide! <br> And when the hot, long day was o'er, <br> The young man at the Master's door <br> Sat with the maiden calm and still, <br> And within the porch, a little more <br> Removed beyond the evening chill, <br> The father sat, and told them tales <br> Of wrecks in the great September gales, <br> Of pirates coasting the Spanish Main, <br> And ships that never came back again, <br> The chance and change of a sailor's life, <br> Want and plenty, rest and strife, <br> His roving fancy, like the wind, <br> That nothing can stay and nothing can bind, <br> And the magic charm of foreign lands, <br> With shadows of palms, and shining sands, <br> Where the tumbling surf, <br> O'er the coral reefs of Madagascar, <br> Washes the feet of the swarthy Lascar, <br> As he lies alone and asleep on the turf. <br> And the trembling maiden held her breath <br> At the tales of that awful, pitiless sea, <br> With all its terror and mystery, <br> The dim, dark sea, so like unto Death, <br> That divides and yet unites mankind! <br> And whenever the old man paused, a gleam <br> From the bowl of his pipe would awhile illume <br> The silent group in the twilight gloom, <br> And thoughtful faces, as in a dream; <br> And for a moment one might mark <br> What had been hidden by the dark, <br> That the head of the maiden lay at rest, <br> Tenderly, on the young man's breast! <br> Day by day the vessel grew, <br> With timbers fashioned strong and true, <br> Stemson and keelson and sternson-knee, <br> Till, framed with perfect symmetry, <br> A skeleton ship rose up to view! <br> And around the bows and along the side <br> The heavy hammers and mallets plied, <br> Till after many a week, at length, <br> Wonderful for form and strength, <br> Sublime in its enormous bulk, <br> Loomed aloft the shadowy hulk! <br> And around it columns of smoke, upwreathing, <br> Rose from the boiling, bubbling, seething <br> Caldron, that glowed, <br> And overflowed <br> With the black tar, heated for the sheathing. <br> And amid the clamors <br> Of clattering hammers, <br> He who listened heard now and then <br> The song of the Master and his men: <br>-- <br> &quot;Build me straight, O worthy Master, <br> Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel, <br> That shall laugh at all disaster, <br> And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!&quot; <br> With oaken brace and copper band, <br> Lay the rudder on the sand, <br> That, like a thought, should have control <br> Over the movement of the whole; <br> And near it the anchor, whose giant hand <br> Would reach down and grapple with the land, <br> And immovable and fast <br> Hold the great ship against the bellowing blast! <br> And at the bows an image stood, <br> By a cunning artist carved in wood, <br> With robes of white, that far behind <br> Seemed to be fluttering in the wind. <br> It was not shaped in a classic mould, <br> Not like a Nymph or Goddess of old, <br> Or Naiad rising from the water, <br> But modelled from the Master's daughter! <br> On many a dreary and misty night, <br> 'T will be seen by the rays of the signal light, <br> Speeding along through the rain and the dark, <br> Like a ghost in its snow-white sark, <br> The pilot of some phantom bark, <br> Guiding the vessel, in its flight, <br> By a path none other knows aright! <br> Behold, at last, <br> Each tall and tapering mast <br> Is swung into its place; <br> Shrouds and stays <br> Holding it firm and fast! <br> Long ago, <br> In the deer-haunted forests of Maine, <br> When upon mountain and plain <br> Lay the snow, <br> They fell, -- those lordly pines! <br> Those grand, majestic pines! <br> 'Mid shouts and cheers <br> The jaded steers, <br> Panting beneath the goad, <br> Dragged down the weary, winding road <br> Those captive kings so straight and tall, <br> To be shorn of their streaming hair, <br> And naked and bare, <br> To feel the stress and the strain <br> Of the wind and the reeling main, <br> Whose roar <br> Would remind them forevermore <br> Of their native forests they should not see again. <br> And everywhere <br> The slender, graceful spars <br> Poise aloft in the air, <br> And at the mast-head, <br> White, blue, and red, <br> A flag unrolls the stripes and stars. <br> Ah! when the wanderer, lonely, friendless, <br> In foreign harbors shall behold <br> That flag unrolled, <br> 'T will be as a friendly hand <br> Stretched out from his native land, <br> Filling his heart with memories sweet and endless! <br> All is finished! and at length <br> Has come the bridal day <br> Of beauty and of strength. <br> To-day the vessel shall be launched! <br> With fleecy clouds the sky is blanched, <br> And o'er the bay, <br> Slowly, in all his splendors dight, <br> The great sun rises to behold the sight. <br> The ocean old, <br> Centuries old, <br> Strong as youth, and as uncontrolled, <br> Paces restless to and fro, <br> Up and down the sands of gold. <br> His beating heart is not at rest; <br> And far and wide, <br> With ceaseless flow, <br> His beard of snow <br> Heaves with the heaving of his breast. <br> He waits impatient for his bride. <br> There she stands, <br> With her foot upon the sands, <br> Decked with flags and streamers gay, <br> In honor of her marriage day, <br> Her snow-white signals fluttering, blending, <br> Round her like a veil descending, <br> Ready to be <br> The bride of the gray old sea. <br> On the deck another bride <br> Is standing by her lover's side. <br> Shadows from the flags and shrouds, <br> Like the shadows cast by clouds, <br> Broken by many a sunny fleck, <br> Fall around them on the deck. <br> The prayer is said, <br> The service read, <br> The joyous bridegroom bows his head; <br> And in tears the good old Master <br> Shakes the brown hand of his son, <br> Kisses his daughter's glowing cheek <br> In silence, for he cannot speak, <br> And ever faster <br> Down his own the tears begin to run. <br> The worthy pastor -- <br> The shepherd of that wandering flock, <br> That has the ocean for its wold, <br> That has the vessel for its fold, <br> Leaping ever from rock to rock -- <br> Spake, with accents mild and clear, <br> Words of warning, words of cheer, <br> But tedious to the bridegroom's ear. <br> He knew the chart <br> Of the sailor's heart, <br> All its pleasures and its griefs, <br> All its shallows and rocky reefs, <br> All those secret currents, that flow <br> With such resistless undertow, <br> And lift and drift, with terrible force, <br> The will from its moorings and its course. <br> Therefore he spake, and thus said he: -- <br> &quot;Like unto ships far off at sea, <br> Outward or homeward bound, are we. <br> Before, behind, and all around, <br> Floats and swings the horizon's bound, <br> Seems at its distant rim to rise <br> And climb the crystal wall of the skies, <br> And then again to turn and sink, <br> As if we could slide from its outer brink. <br> Ah! it is not the sea, <br> It is not the sea that sinks and shelves, <br> But ourselves <br> That rock and rise <br> With endless and uneasy motion, <br> Now touching the very skies, <br> Now sinking into the depths of ocean. <br> Ah! if our souls but poise and swing <br> Like the compass in its brazen ring, <br> Ever level and ever true <br> To the toil and the task we have to do, <br> We shall sail securely, and safely reach <br> The Fortunate Isles, on whose shining beach <br> The sights we see, and the sounds we hear, <br> Will be those of joy and not of fear!&quot; <br> Then the Master, <br> With a gesture of command, <br> Waved his hand; <br> And at the word, <br> Loud and sudden there was heard, <br> All around them and below, <br> The sound of hammers, blow on blow, <br> Knocking away the shores and spurs. <br> And see! she stirs! <br> She starts, -- she moves, -- she seems to feel <br> The thrill of life along her keel, <br> And, spurning with her foot the ground, <br> With one exulting, joyous bound, <br> She leaps into the ocean's arms! <br> And lo! from the assembled crowd <br> There rose a shout, prolonged and loud, <br> That to the ocean seemed to say, <br> &quot;Take her, O bridegroom, old and gray, <br> Take her to thy protecting arms, <br> With all her youth and all her charms!&quot; <br> How beautiful she is! How fair <br> She lies within those arms, that press <br> Her form with many a soft caress <br> Of tenderness and watchful care! <br> Sail forth into the sea, O ship! <br> Through wind and wave, right onward steer! <br> The moistened eye, the trembling lip, <br> Are not the signs of doubt or fear. <br> Sail forth into the sea of life, <br> O gentle, loving, trusting wife, <br> And safe from all adversity <br> Upon the bosom of that sea <br> Thy comings and thy goings be! <br> For gentleness and love and trust <br> Prevail o'er angry wave and gust; <br> And in the wreck of noble lives <br> Something immortal still survives! <br> Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! <br> Sail on, O Union, strong and great! <br> Humanity with all its fears, <br> With all the hopes of future years, <br> Is hanging breathless on thy fate! <br> We know what Master laid thy keel, <br> What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, <br> Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, <br> What anvils rang, what hammers beat, <br> In what a forge and what a heat <br> Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! <br> Fear not each sudden sound and shock, <br> 'T is of the wave and not the rock; <br> 'T is but the flapping of the sail, <br> And not a rent made by the gale! <br> In spite of rock and tempest's roar, <br> In spite of false lights on the shore, <br> Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! <br> Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, <br> Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, <br> Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, <br> Are all with thee, -- are all with thee!</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Henry+Wadsworth+Longfellow">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=409682" data-title="The Building of the Ship de Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" data-description="&quot;Build me straight, O worthy Master! Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel, That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!&quot; The merchant's word Delighted the Master heard; For his heart was in his work, a..."></div> </div> </div>

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