SAD VENTURES by ANONYMOUS

I STOOD and watched my ships go out,
Each, one by one, unmooring, free,
What time the quiet harbor filled
With flood-tide from the sea.

The first that sailed, her name was Joy;
She spread a smooth, white, shining sail,
And eastward drove with bending spars
Before the sighing gale.

Another sailed, her name was Hope;
No cargo in her hold she bore;
Thinking to find in western lands
Of merchandise a store.

The next that sailed, her name was Love;
She showed a red flag at her mast, --
A flag as red as blood she showed,
And she sped south right fast.

The last that sailed, her name was Faith;
Slowly she took her passage forth,
Tacked and lay to; at last she steered
A straight course for the north.

My gallant ships, they sailed away
Over the shimmering summer sea;
I stood at watch for many a day --
But one came back to me.

For Joy was caught by pirate Pain;
Hope ran upon a hidden reef,
And Love took fire and foundered fast
In whelming seas of grief.

Faith came at last, storm-beat and torn --
She recompensed me all my loss;
For, as a cargo safe, she brought
A crown linked to a cross.

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