The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell | Page 3

dreamy eyes watching the ripples play,?Or hearkening their fairy chime;?His slender sail?Ne'er felt the gale;?He did but float a little way,?And, putting to the shore?While yet 't was early day,?Went calmly on his way,?To dwell with us no more!?No jarring did he feel, 90?No grating on his shallop's keel;?A strip of silver sand?Mingled the waters with the land?Where he was seen no more:?Oh stern word--Nevermore!
Full short his journey was; no dust?Of earth unto his sandals clave;?The weary weight that old men must,?He bore not to the grave.?He seemed a cherub who had lost his way 100?And wandered hither, so his stay?With us was short, and 't was most meet?That he should be no delver in earth's clod,?Nor need to pause and cleanse his feet?To stand before his God:?Oh blest word--Evermore!
THE SIRENS
The sea is lonely, the sea is dreary,?The sea is restless and uneasy;?Thou seekest quiet, thou art weary,?Wandering thou knowest not whither;--?Our little isle is green and breezy,?Come and rest thee! Oh come hither,?Come to this peaceful home of ours,
Where evermore?The low west-wind creeps panting up the shore 9?To be at rest among the flowers;?Full of rest, the green moss lifts,?As the dark waves of the sea?Draw in and out of rocky rifts,?Calling solemnly to thee?With voices deep and hollow,--
'To the shore?Follow! Oh, follow!?To be at rest forevermore!
Forevermore!'
Look how the gray old Ocean 20?From the depth of his heart rejoices,?Heaving with a gentle motion,?When he hears our restful voices;?List how he sings in an undertone,?Chiming with our melody;?And all sweet sounds of earth and air?Melt into one low voice alone,?That murmurs over the weary sea,?And seems to sing from everywhere,--?'Here mayst thou harbor peacefully, 30?Here mayst thou rest from the aching oar;?Turn thy curved prow ashore,?And in our green isle rest forevermore!
Forevermore!'?And Echo half wakes in the wooded hill,?And, to her heart so calm and deep,?Murmurs over in her sleep,?Doubtfully pausing and murmuring still,
'Evermore!'?Thus, on Life's weary sea, 40?Heareth the marinere?Voices sweet, from far and near,?Ever singing low and clear,?Ever singing longingly.
Is it not better here to be,?Than to be toiling late and soon??In the dreary night to see?Nothing but the blood-red moon?Go up and down into the sea;?Or, in the loneliness of day, 50?To see the still seals only?Solemnly lift their faces gray,?Making it yet more lonely??Is it not better than to hear?Only the sliding of the wave?Beneath the plank, and feel so near?A cold and lonely grave,?A restless grave, where thou shalt lie?Even in death unquietly??Look down beneath thy wave-worn bark, 60?Lean over the side and see?The leaden eye of the sidelong shark
Upturnèd patiently,?Ever waiting there for thee:?Look down and see those shapeless forms,?Which ever keep their dreamless sleep?Far down within the gloomy deep,?And only stir themselves in storms,?Rising like islands from beneath,?And snorting through the angry spray, 70?As the frail vessel perisheth?In the whirls of their unwieldy play;?Look down! Look down!?Upon the seaweed, slimy and dark,?That waves its arms so lank and brown,
Beckoning for thee!?Look down beneath thy wave-worn bark
Into the cold depth of the sea!?Look down! Look down!?Thus, on Life's lonely sea, 80?Heareth the marinere?Voices sad, from far and near,?Ever singing full of fear,?Ever singing drearfully.
Here all is pleasant as a dream;?The wind scarce shaketh down the dew,?The green grass floweth like a stream
Into the ocean's blue;?Listen! Oh, listen!?Here is a gush of many streams,?A song of many birds, 91?And every wish and longing seems?Lulled to a numbered flow of words,--
Listen! Oh, listen!?Here ever hum the golden bees?Underneath full-blossomed trees,?At once with glowing fruit and flowers crowned;--?So smooth the sand, the yellow sand,?That thy keel will not grate as it touches the land;?All around with a slumberous sound, 100?The singing waves slide up the strand,?And there, where the smooth, wet pebbles be,?The waters gurgle longingly,?As If they fain would seek the shore,?To be at rest from the ceaseless roar,?To be at rest forevermore,--
Forevermore.?Thus, on Life's gloomy sea,?Heareth the marinere?Voices sweet, from far and near, 110?Ever singing in his ear,?'Here is rest and peace for thee!'
IRENé
Hers is a spirit deep, and crystal-clear;?Calmly beneath her earnest face it lies,?Free without boldness, meek without a fear,?Quicker to look than speak its sympathies;?Far down into her large and patient eyes?I gaze, deep-drinking of the infinite,?As, in the mid-watch of a clear, still night,?I look into the fathomless blue skies.
So circled lives she with Love's holy light,?That from the shade of self she walketh free; 10?The garden of her soul still keepeth she?An Eden where the snake did never enter;?She hath a natural, wise sincerity,?A simple truthfulness, and these have lent her?A dignity as moveless as the centre;?So that no influence of our earth can stir?Her steadfast courage, nor can take away?The holy peacefulness, which night and day,?Unto her queenly soul doth minister.
Most gentle is she; her large charity 20?(An all unwitting, childlike gift in her)?Not freer is to give than