En.Citatepedia^®.ro

By The Seaside : The Lighthouse

The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
And on its outer point, some miles away,
The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.

Even at this distance I can see the tides,
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides
In the white lip and tremor of the face.

And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light
With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!

Not one alone; from each projecting cape
And perilous reef along the ocean's verge,
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,
Holding its lantern o'er the restless surge.

Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night-o'ertaken mariner to save.

And the great ships sail outward and return,
Bending and bowing o'er the billowy swells,
And ever joyful, as they see it burn,
They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.

They come forth from the darkness, and their sails
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,
And eager faces, as the light unveils,
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.

The mariner remembers when a child,
On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;
And when, returning from adventures wild,
He saw it rise again o'er ocean's brink.

Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same
Year after year, through all the silent night
Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame,
Shines on that inextinguishable light!

It sees the ocean to its bosom clasp
The rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace;
It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,
And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.

The startled waves leap over it; the storm
Smites it with all the scourges of the rain,
And steadily against its solid form
Press the great shoulders of the hurricane.

The sea-bird wheeling round it, with the din
Of wings and winds and solitary cries,
Blinded and maddened by the light within,
Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.

A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock,
Still grasping in his hand the fire of Jove,
It does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,
But hails the mariner with words of love.

'Sail on!' it says, 'sail on, ye stately ships!
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!'

poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Amidst, amidst

Amidst, amidst
Amidst the waves
The ocean-waves that sparkle on the pilot sea
And glisten in the night to dancing forms
Of elfin size in silent prancing lost.

Aloft, aloft
My soul I have let go
That it may find at last
Its home, the yearning-prize
Wherein it must go now:
The ocean-sea that sparkles in the night.

I hear the chains cut
I hear the pains fall
I hear my dress of breath
Fall in the channel sea, beyond the straits
Where the wide Ocean beckons and awaits:
Where the wide night yet sparkles full as day
Where the dawn riseth from its eastern cave
Where beauty surfeits by excess of love:
Where the Good rests and stays
My soul will sail.

And from the triad of rocks that menacing
Stands in the ocean path
The sirens sing their lay.

Yet the night shines and there is light
The soul sails on, the siren-song by-passed
Withers and loses in the ocean’s vast.
The breezes blow, the breezes blow my face.
And the soul sails, still sails this night.

poem by Emmanuel George Cefai
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Safe Harbour

As the light starts to fade, at the end of the day,
And the last rays of sunset cascade on the bay.
The fishing boats set sail, their little lamps a glow,
Off to deeper waters and the school of fish below.
Along the granite, harbor wall, the lime washed cottage stands,
The little wind swept coastal path to the causeway and sands.
At the point a lighthouse giving out its light,
Protecting the wayward mariner as he sails on through the night.
For generations have come and gone, it’s always been that way,
As tide rolls in with the fishing boats that signals break of day.

poem by Nicholas Windle
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The Sea-Bird's Song

On the deep is the mariner's danger,
On the deep is the mariner's death;
Who, to fear of the tempest a stranger,
Sees the last bubble burst of his breath?
'T is the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
Lone looker on despair;
The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
The only witness there.

Who watches their course, who so mildly
Careen to the kiss of the breeze?
Who lists to their shrieks, who so wildly
Are clasped in the arms of the seas?
'T is the sea-bird, &c.

Who hovers on high o'er the lover,
And her who has clung to his neck?
Whose wing is the wing that can cover,
With its shadow, the foundering wreck?
'T is the sea-bird, &c.

My eye in the light of the billow,
My wing on the wake of the wave;
I shall take to my breast for a pillow,
The shroud of the fair and the brave.
I'm a sea-bird, &c.

My foot on the iceberg has lighted,
When hoarse the wild winds veer about;
My eye, when the bark is benighted,
Sees the lamp of the Light-House go out.
I'm the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
Lone looker on despair;
The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
The only witness there.

poem by John Gardiner Calkins Brainard
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The Steamboat

See how yon flaming herald treads
The ridged and rolling waves,
As, crashing o’er their crested heads,
She bows her surly slaves!
With foam before and fire behind,
She rends the clinging sea,
That flies before the roaring wind,
Beneath her hissing lee.

The morning spray, like sea-born flowers,
With heaped and glistening bells,
Falls round her fast, in ringing showers,
With every wave that swells;
And, burning o’er the midnight deep,
In lurid fringes thrown,
The living gems of ocean sweep
Along her flashing zone.

With clashing wheel and lifting keel,
And smoking torch on high,
When winds are loud and billows reel,
She thunders foaming by;
When seas are silent and serene,
With even beam she glides,
The sunshine glimmering through the green
That skirts her gleaming sides.

Now, like a wild, nymph, far apart
She veils her shadowy form,
The beating of her restless heart
Still sounding through the storm;
Now answers, like a courtly dame,
The reddening surges o’er,
With flying scarf of spangled flame,
The Pharos of the shore.

To-night yon pilot shall not sleep,
Who trims his narrowed sail;
To-night yon frigate scarce shall keep
Her broad breast to the gale;
And many a foresail, scooped and strained,
Shall break from yard and stay,
Before this smoky wreath has stained
The rising mist of day.

Hark! hark! I hear yon whistling shroud,
I see yon quivering mast;
The black throat of the hunted cloud
Is panting forth the blast!
An hour, and, whirled like winnowing chaff,
The giant surge shall fling
His tresses o’er yon pennon staff,
White as the sea-bird’s wing.

Yet rest, ye wanderers of the deep;
Nor wind nor wave shall tire
Those fleshless arms, whose pulses leap
With floods of living fire;
Sleep on, and, when the morning light
Streams o’er the shining bay,
Oh think of those for whom the night
Shall never wake in day.

poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes
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By The Seaside : Twilight

The twilight is sad and cloudy,
The wind blows wild and free,
And like the wings of sea-birds
Flash the white caps of the sea.

But in the fisherman's cottage
There shines a ruddier light,
And a little face at the window
Peers out into the night.

Close, close it is pressed to the window,
As if those childish eyes
Were looking into the darkness,
To see some form arise.

And a woman's waving shadow
Is passing to and fro,
Now rising to the ceiling,
Now bowing and bending low.

What tale do the roaring ocean,
And the night-wind, bleak and wild,
As they beat at the crazy casement,
Tell to that little child?

And why do the roaring ocean,
And the night-wind, wild and bleak,
As they beat at the heart of the mother,
Drive the color from her cheek?

poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Across The Ocean

traveled through the lost
showered in the mist
purple skies blue
sparks among the ocean
whistles the wind
as the sand twirl
birds fly in the same direction
peeked in the sunset
spot the light
ocean waves slow motion
dolphins speaks
suddenly butterflies in my stomach
tikkles me
the enviroment vanished
as the light seem to get smaller
the ocean wave moves faster
sun falls alseep
awaken the night
butterflies cross the ocean
while im burried in shock
missing you
across the ocean

poem by James Bost
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Until The Night

Over the ocean of life’s commotion
We sail till the night comes on.
Sail and sail in a tiny boat,
Drifting wherever the billows go.
Out on the treacherous sea afloat,
Beat by the cruel winds that blow,
Hither and thither our boat is drawn,
Till the day dies out and the night comes on.

Over a meadow of light and shadow
We wander with weary feet,
Seeking a bauble men call “Fame, ”
Grasping the dead-sea fruit named “wealth, ”
Finding each but an empty name,
And the night – the night steals on by stealth,
And we count the season of slumber sweet,
When hope lies dead in the arms of defeat.

Over the river a great Forever
Stretches beyond our sight.
But I know by the glistening pearly gates
Afar from the region of strife and sin,
A beautiful angel always waits
To welcome the sheep of the shepherd in.
And out of the shadows of gloom and night,
They enter the mansion of peace and light.

poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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At Night On The Beach

A breeze from the ocean
Cools the beach
The stars up above
Seem just out of reach
Waves are softly lapping
Up on the sand
Lovers are walking
Hand in hand

A falling star blazes
Across the sky
It burns so brightly
And silently dies
While out on the ocean
A ship’s light shines
Sailing out to sea
Home port far behind

The tides are rising
In the night
But will be gone
By morning light
Covering the sand
With seaweed and shells
Filling the air
With tidewater smells

Like backward salmon
We go to the sea
Seeking fun or peace
Or tranquility
Or maybe a way
To re-start our life
Walking along on
The beach at night

July 4,2000

poem by James Frady
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Adamastor

Nearing the Cape of storms
ships sail and sailors pray
to their gods to prevail
when suddenly out of the blue
storm clouds gather
and lightning bolts flash down

while unseen and like a phantom
the giant of the ages
barbaric and savage
the Titan Adamastor
watches ever morose,
resentful and unforgiving

drawing the sea in his fist
and throwing a great
unpredicted crashing wave,
causing sudden storms
and gale force winds,
calling thunder to hit down
like Thor’s hammer

and in his workshop brewing storms
and out of the granite rocks at times
where his body lies entombed
his spirit rises angry.

Numerous ships are wrecked
along the shore,
where giant elder god Adamastor
rages ashore
among the sandstone cliffs
and in anger forever more
sends storms, great winds
and throwing thick fog
to draw ships on ridges and sharp rocks.

[References: Rounding the Cape by Roy Campbell and Canto V Vasco da Gama (Os Lusiadas) by Luis de Camões.]

poem by Gert Strydom
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Sailing

Maybe tomorrow with the wind on my side
I will sail across the ocean
To the island of white, the sea is pink
Only one star in sight
Thats where Ill be going
Because Im searching for the light
There goes my mind again
It just cant stop its wondering around
Cause it wants to know everything that is going on
Sailing across the ocean
Sailing across the sea of time
Could be Id find promotion
Maybe I can be what my teacher was to me
He was a man giving the truth to me
Let me see for myself whats going on
Maybe soon I will see the great horizon
The velvet sails of my ship in the night
Give away the colors of the faces delight
Land ho was the cry of the day
As I turned to face the captain
When I heard a voice say
There goes my mind again
It just cant stop this wondering around
Cause he wants to know everything thats going on
Sailing across the ocean
Sailing across the sea of time
Sailing across the ocean
Sailing across the sea of time
Sailing across the ocean
Sailing across the sea of time

song performed by by Rick Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Galleon Of Gold

And as I watch the breaking dawn
The sun begins to rise,
Above the scarlet clouds within
The early morning skies,
And as another day begins
My dreams I'll never hold,
Unless I sail across the ocean
In my galleon of gold.

I head out on a journey now
Not knowing where to go,
Searching for the rainbow's end
That never seems to show,
No treasure lies within my hand
My dreams I'll never hold,
Unless I sail across the ocean
In my galleon of gold.

Through seas so rough and stormy and
The winds that blow so strong,
I'll try to find the answers now
To where it all went wrong,
I'll search to find my destiny
My dreams I'll never hold,
Unless I sail across the ocean
In my galleon of gold.

I'll find a way to happiness
And leave this stony shore,
And far behind the past shall stay
My future waits before,
The stars will be my guiding light
My dreams I'll never hold,
Unless I sail across the ocean
In my galleon of gold.

poem by Andrew Blakemore
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A Tragedy

A SOFT-BREASTED bird from the sea
Fell in love with the light-house flame;
And it wheeled round the tower on its airiest wing,
And floated and cried like a lovelorn thing;
It brooded all day and it fluttered all night,
But could win no look from the steadfast light.

For the flame had its heart afar,—
Afar with the ships at sea;
It was thinking of children and waiting wives,
And darkness and danger to sailors' lives;
But the bird had its tender bosom pressed
On the glass where at last it dashed its breast.
The light only flickered, the brighter to glow;
But the bird lay dead on the rocks below.

poem by John Boyle O'Reilly
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By the Sea

In a hammock by the sea
As I lay there under a tree
The waves flow with tender ease
As the wind blows through the trees
Ocean waves a calming sound
So serene and tranquil it is found
An endless ocean it may seem
Where eyes meet the horizon, is like a dream
And along the horizon, clouds do part
As the artist sketches a perfect art
Deep blue water and the tides go by
The ships that sail and sea-gulls fly
The dolphins dance to the morning light
The flying fish just caught my sight
The divers dive to the coral reef
In search of pearls, they must keep
The mermaids dip and dance along
Under the moonlight, as they sing a song
The sight so pleasant to the eye
As they rock me to a lullaby.

poem by Meena Mustafa
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God Help our Men at Sea

The wild night comes like an owl to its lair,
The black clouds follow fast,
And the sun-gleams die, and the lightnings glare,
And the ships go heaving past, past, past -
The ships go heaving past!
Bar the doors, and higher, higher
Pile the faggots on the fire:
Now abroad, by many a light,
Empty seats there are to-night -
Empty seats that none may fill,
For the storm grows louder still:
How it surges and swells through the gorges and dells,
Under the ledges and over the lea,
Where a watery sound goeth moaning around -
God help our men at sea!

Oh! never a tempest blew on the shore
But that some heart did moan
For a darling voice it would hear no more
And a face that had left it lone, lone, lone -
A face that had left it lone!
I am watching by a pane
Darkened with the gusty rain,
Watching, through a mist of tears,
Sad with thoughts of other years,
For a brother I did miss
In a stormy time like this.
Ah! the torrent howls past, like a fiend on the blast,
Under the ledges and over the lea;
And the pent waters gleam, and the wild surges scream -
God help our men at sea!

Ah, Lord! they may grope through the dark to find
Thy hand within the gale;
And cries may rise on the wings of the wind
From mariners weary and pale, pale, pale -
From mariners weary and pale!
'Tis a fearful thing to know,
While the storm-winds loudly blow,
That a man can sometimes come
Too near to his father's home;
So that he shall kneel and say,
'Lord, I would be far away!'
Ho! the hurricanes roar round a dangerous shore,
Under the ledges and over the lea;
And there twinkles a light on the billows so white -
God help our men at sea!

poem by Henry Kendall
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Comfortable Light

Most comfortable Light,
Light of the small lamp burning up the night,
With dawn enleagued against the beaten dark;
Pure golden perfect spark;

Or sudden wind-bright flame,
That but the strong-handed wind can urge or tame;
Chill loveliest light the kneeling clouds between,
Silverly serene;

Comfort of happy light,
That mouse-like leaps amid brown leaves, cheating sight;
Clear naked stars, burning with swift intense
Earthward intelligence;--

Sensitive, single
Points in the dark inane that purely tingle
With eager fire, pouring night's circles through
Their living blue;

Dark light still waters hold;
Broad silver moonpath trodden into gold:
Candle-flame glittering through the traveller's night--
Most comfortable light....

And lovelier, the eye
Where light from darkness shines unfathomably,
Light secret, clear, shallow, profound, known, strange,
Constant alone in change:--

Not that wild light that turns
Hunted from dying eyes when the last fire burns;
O, not that bitter light of wounded things,
When bony anguish springs

Sudden, intolerable;
Nor light of mad eyes gleaming up from hell....
Come not again, wild light! Shine not again,
Hill-flare of pain!

But thou, most holy light....
Not the noon blaze that stings, too fiercely bright,
Not that unwinking stare of shameless day;
But thou, the gray,

Nun-like and silent, still,
Fine-breathed on many an eastern bare green hill;
Keen light of gray eyes, cool rain, and stern spears;
Sad light, but not to tears:--

--O, comfort thou of eyes
Watching expectant from chill northern skies,
Excellent joy for lids heavy with night--
Strange with delight!

poem by John Freeman
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Peace Like A River

My peace is like a river
Winding slowly to the sea
My heart is deeper than the ocean
Filled with love He gave to me

Oh love that knows no ending
Rise up and set me free
I shall sail forever on this ocean
Forever, ever closer unto thee

Fill my sails oh precious Jesus
Wind of the Spirit propel me on
Over seas of tranquil beauty
To the horizon and beyond

I have sailed through stormy waters
When all my days had turned to night
I have sailed though windless days
Often tempted, tired, and no more fight

Sometimes the sun it seems to set
And we fight the rising tide
Of fear and darkness and regret
Yet thou art always by my side

So sail on my heart, to journey's end
Sail on into the night
And neither wind nor rain nor stormy seas
Shall diminish the morning light

poem by Frank McEleny
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Ships Passing In Night Born

ships are sailing upon turn tide flowing river waters
light is dance happy mellow yellows closing long day
soon sunset will add flame reds fingers yellow gold
sun sets sinks into still sea upon horizon home shores
dust light fades shadows creep in stealth murky images
suddenly black dawns night deep darkness speaks in glory

starlight sparkles upon enchanted waters river ebbs flows
passage across bar out into ocean waves rocks emotions
soon short journeys made upon ocean waters salts senses
watch shoreline beach grey sands invisible stretch wet away
waters dark painted ocean oil black sparkles in flow waves
beach sands perfume night with residue heat breeze vapours

poem by Terence George Craddock
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Song of Innisfail

They came from a land beyond the sea,
And now o'er the western main
Set sail, in their good ships, gallantly,
From the sunny land of Spain.
"Oh, where's the isle we've seen in dreams,
Our destined home or grave?"
Thus sung they as, by the morning's beams,
They swept the Atlantic wave.

And lo, where afar o'er ocean shines
A sparkle of radiant green,
As though in that deep lay emerald mines,
Whose light through the wave was seen.
"'Tis Innisfail -- 'tis Innisfail!"
Rings o'er the echoing sea;
While, bending to heaven, the warriors hail
That home of the brave and free.

Then turn'd they unto the Eastern wave,
Where now their Day-God's eye
A look of such sunny omen gave
As lighted up sea and sky.
Nor frown was seen through sky or sea,
Nor tear o'er leaf or sod,
When first on their Isle of Destiny
Our great forefathers trod.

poem by Thomas Moore
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When the Evening Star Went Down

The morning was fearful at sea--
The voyagers weary and pale;
Their steamer a wreck, from keel to deck,
Before an Autumnal gale.
Old Neptune came forth in power--
He wore on his features a frown;
And many a guest he took to rest,
When the "Evening Star" went down.

They sleep in a fathomless grave,
The guest and the mariner brave;
They pillow their heads on coral beds,
Beneath the blue ocean waves,
Beneath the blue ocean waves.

Sail'd ever a ship from her quay,
So heavily laden as she,
With folly and fame, with hope and shame,
With vanity, mirth and glee?
But in the dark moment that came,
How useless were rank and renown!
And honors of earth, what were they worth,
When the "Evening Star" went down.

The treacherous ocean is calm--
No longer in storm billows toss's;
Yet darkness and cloud will long enshroud
The hearts that were link'd with the lost.
In how many, how many homes,
Far distant, in country or town,
A light was put out, in dread, in doubt,
When the "Evening Star" when down.

poem by Henry Clay Work
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Farewell To Miss E. B.

(Written in her sixteenth year.)

Farewell, and whenever calm solitude's hour,
Shall silently spread its broad wings o'er your bower,
Oh! then gaze on yon planet, yon watch-fire divine,
And believe that my soul is there mingling with thine.

When the dark brow of evening is beaming with stars,
And yon crest of light clouds is the turban she wears,
When she walks forth in grandeur, the queen of the night,
Oh! then think that my spirit looks on with delight.

O'er the ocean of life our frail vessels are bounding,
And danger and death our dark pathway surrounding;
Destruction's bright meteors are dancing before,
And behind us the winds of adversity roar.

Oh! then come, let us light friendship's lamp on the wave,
If we're lost, it will shed its pure light o'er the grave,
Or 't will guide to the haven of Heaven at last,
And beam on when the voice of the trumpet hath past.

poem by Lucretia Maria Davidson
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