The Wreck
Dublin Core
Title
The Wreck
Description
ALL night the booming minute-gun
For her pale arms a babe had prest,
And beautiful 'midst that wild scene,
Oh! human love, whose yearning heart,
Had peal'd along the deep,
And mournfully the rising sunLooked o'er the tide-worn steep.
A bark from India's coral strand,Before the raging blast,
Had vail'd her topsails to the sand,And bow'd her noble mast.
And true ones died with her -
We saw her mighty cable riven,Like floating gossamer.
We saw her proud flag struck that morn,A star once o'er the seas -
Her anchor gone, her deck uptorn,And sadder things than these.
The rocks with pearls were sown,
And strangely sad, the ruby's rayFlash'd out o'er fretted stone.
And gold was strewn the wet sand o'er,Like ashes by a breeze -
And gorgeous robes - but oh! that shoreHad sadder things than these!
A crush'd reed thrown aside -
Yet by that rigid lip and brow,Not without strife he died.
And near him on the sea-weed lay -Till then we had not wept,
But well our gushing hearts might say,That there a mother slept!
For her pale arms a babe had prest,
With such a wreathing grasp,
Billows had dash'd o'er that fond breast,Yet not undone the clasp.
Her very tresses had been flungTo wrap the fair child's form,
Where still their wet long streamers clung,All tangled by the storm.
And beautiful 'midst that wild scene,
Gleam'd up the boy's dead face,
Like slumber's, trustingly serene,In melancholy grace.
Deep in her bosom lay his head.With half-shut violet eye -
He had known little of her dread,Nought of her agony!
Oh! human love, whose yearning heart,
Through all things vainly true,
So stamp upon thy mortal partIts passionate adieu -
Surely thou hast another lot,There is some home for thee,
Where thou shalt rest, remembering notThe moaning of the sea!
Creator
Mrs. Hemans (Felicia Dorothea Hemans)
Source
New Series 1:2, p. 4
Date
1840.03.14
Collection
Citation
Mrs. Hemans (Felicia Dorothea Hemans), “The Wreck,” Periodical Poets, accessed September 20, 2024, https://periodicalpoets.com/items/show/349.
Comments