WHY stand we gazing on the sparkling Brine, With wonder smit by its transparency, And all-enraptured with its purity? -- Because the unstained, the clear, the crystalline, Have ever in them something of benign; Whether in gem, in water, or in sky, A sleeping infant's brow, or wakeful eye Of a young maiden, only not divine. Scarcely the hand forbears to dip its palm For beverage drawn as from a mountain-well; Temptation centres in the liquid Calm; Our daily raiment seems no obstacle To instantaneous plunging in, deep Sea! And revelling in long embrace with thee. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RYTON FIRS by LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE: 3. IN PORT by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON TO THE KING OF THULE by HENRI ALLORGE THE RED SUNSETS, 1883 (2) by MATHILDE BLIND ORNITHOPOLIS by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN SONGS OF THE SEA CHILDREN: 57 by BLISS CARMAN THE WHITE CLOUD by HILDA CONKLING AN ELEGY UPON THE DEATH OF MR. STANNINOW, FELLOW OF QUEENE'S by RICHARD CRASHAW |