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STANZAS

ADDRESSED TO THE SEA.

WRITTEN IN AUGUST, 1824.

"The sea is like a silvery lake,

And o'er its calm the vessel glides

Gently, as if it feared to wake

The slumber of the silent tides."-MOORE.

I.

Soft as a seraph's look, the calm blue sea
Smiles with unwonted loveliness; how dear
Thou, glorious element, art to the free !
The spirit-stirring waves, now hush'd, appear
With broken sunbeams or suffused, or clear,
Glassing the weed fantastic-Nature's waste.
Now ruffled by the rising breeze they near

The shore, and course each other down in haste!
The bubbling cup of pleasure thus bemocks us while we

taste.

II.

There's in our minds an overpowering sense Of grandeur, as we view the sea, that far Exceeds in depth those feelings, though intense, With which we contemplate the brightest star That heralds Cynthia in her full orb'd car. The sea, coeval with the eternal past, While element with element waged war, Ere yet the pillars of the earth stood fast, Roll'd o'er the dark abyss immeasurably vast.

III.

Then light through darkness shot its vivid ray,
Then waves subsided, mountains rose above;
Then splendid in his rising, as to-day,
The God of gladness brighten'd hill and grove,
And all creation glow'd with roseate love.
But chiefly the great ocean, o'er whose face
The spirit of its God began to move,

While yet it bluster'd through unmeasured space, Gloried within its bounds to feel the sun's embrace!

IV.

A varied mass of congregated cloud,

Purple and blue and red, the horizon round Floats o'er the waters, seemingly to shroud Some fairy isle where beauteous fruits abound; Where hills uprise by golden castles crown'd;

Whence elfin knights come forth in proud attire,

And lovely fays, whose feet scarce touch the ground: But soon these beings of the brain expire,

When the disparting clouds unveil a sea of fire.

V.

The sun is sinking fast, and now is gone The vaporous enchantment; the wide main Reflects from clouds pavilioning the throne Of light, that still most beautiful remain, An orange hue, which to depict 'twere vain! These are faint shadows of those glorious sights Which we shall see when, free from grief and pain, We traverse planets where unbodied sprites For ever will enjoy ineffable delights.

VI.

The bard* of Asti view'd the sea, and wept,
So strong were his emotions to behold

Its might; as yet his sun-like genius slept,
'Till roused by call of passion uncontroll❜d:
Like to the lightning's flash which clouds unfold
Amid a thunder-storm-through floods of tears
It threw a momentary ray; the bold
Promise of splendour that in after years

Blazed in his verse, and still the sons of freedom cheers.

* ALFIERI. When this great poet first saw the sea, he could not describe the emotions which the sight of it excited in him, and therefore he gave vent to his feelings in tears.

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VII.

Home of the brave and free-for such thou art,
Thou proudly-swelling Ocean! how thy waves
Delighted ATHENS once, whose lion-heart
Despised the self-will'd tyrant's glittering slaves!
Baffled in all his hopes, Power vainly raves.
Now like a giant rising after sleep

Refresh'd, COLOMBIA wakes to life, and braves
Her late tyrannic mistress; o'er the deep
The sons of commerce now fresh harvests hope to reap.

VIII.

O'ershadow'd by monopoly's dark wings,
COLOMBIA languish'd long, but, now no more—
And many a vessel, richly-freighted, brings
Her wealth triumphantly to CHILI's shore;
Returning homewards with the wondrous store
That nature poureth prodigally forth

From her horn bursting with its fulness o'er;
Thus though proud kings unite from South and North,
Freedom unshaken smiles, and vindicates her worth.

IX.

Thou vasty deep! what treasures lie conceal'd
Within thy caverns, coral-paved, below
The plummet's reach, that ne'er shall be reveal'd
Till the dread angel his last tromp shall blow,
Then all will Nature's secret wonders know;

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