The storm is sweeping o'er the land, And raging o'er the sea: It urgeth sharp and dismal sounds, The Psalm of Misery. The straining of the cordage now, The creaking of a spar, The deep dumb shock the vessel feels When billows strike and jar, It breathes of distant seamen's hearts That think upon their wives; Of wretches clinging to the mast, And wrestling for their lives. The clouds are flying through the sky Like spectres of affright: Yon pale witch moon doth blast them all With bleared and ghastly light. Great Demons flutter through the dark Flame touched, with dusky wing; And Passion crouches out of sight Like a forbidden thing. The blast doth scourge the forest through, Great oaks, and bushes small; And God, the fable of the fools, Looks silently on all. Oh! if He watches, as I know, Safe let Him keep our rest, And give my little ones and me The shelter of His breast. No harm shall come on earth, we trust; But, if mischance must be, Most let Him help those weary souls That struggle with the sea! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WAY TO ARCADY by HENRY CUYLER BUNNER ONCE BEFORE by MARY ELIZABETH MAPES DODGE THE ROAD TO FRANCE by DANIEL MACINTYRE HENDERSON AN ODE IN IMITATION OF ALCAEUS by WILLIAM JONES LOVE AND TIME by WALTER RALEIGH ALFRED THE HARPER by JOHN STERLING (1806-1844) THE LOVER AND THE BIRDS by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM |