A Sea Dream

We saw the slow tides go and come,     The curving surf-lines lightly drawn,     The gray rocks touched with tender bloom     Beneath the fresh-blown rose of dawn.     We saw in richer sunsets lost     The sombre pomp of showery noons;     And signalled spectral sails that crossed     The weird, low light of rising moons.     On stormy eves from cliff and head     We saw the white spray tossed and spurned;     While over all, in gold and red,     Its face of fire the lighthouse turned.     The rail-car brought its daily crowds,     Half curious, half indifferent,     Like passing sails or floating clouds,     We saw them as they came and went.     But, one calm morning, as we lay     And watched the mirage-lifted wall     Of coast, across the dreamy bay,     And heard afar the curlew call,     And nearer voices, wild or tame,     Of airy flock and childish throng,     Up from the waters edge there came     Faint snatches of familiar song.     Careless we heard the singers choice     Of old and common airs; at last     The tender pathos of his voice     In one low chanson held us fast.     A song that mingled joy and pain,     And memories old and sadly sweet;     While, timing to its minor strain,     The waves in lapsing cadence beat.     -    -    -    -    -     The waves are glad in breeze and sun;     The rocks are fringed with foam;     I walk once more a haunted shore,     A stranger, yet at home,     A land of dreams I roam.     Is this the wind, the soft sea wind     That stirred thy locks of brown?     Are these the rocks whose mosses knew     The trail of thy light gown,     Where boy and girl sat down?     I see the gray forts broken wall,     The boats that rock below;     And, out at sea, the passing sails     We saw so long ago     Rose-red in mornings glow.     The freshness of the early time     On every breeze is blown;     As glad the sea, as blue the sky,     The change is ours alone;     The saddest is my own.     A stranger now, a world-worn man,     Is he who bears my name;     But thou, methinks, whose mortal life     Immortal youth became,     Art evermore the same.     Thou art not here, thou art not there,     Thy place I cannot see;     I only know that where thou art     The blessed angels be,     And heaven is glad for thee.     Forgive me if the evil years     Have left on me their sign;     Wash out, O soul so beautiful,     The many stains of mine     In tears of love divine!     I could not look on thee and live,     If thou wert by my side;     The vision of a shining one,     The white and heavenly bride,     Is well to me denied.     But turn to me thy dear girl-face     Without the angels crown,     The wedded roses of thy lips,     Thy loose hair rippling down     In waves of golden brown.     Look forth once more through space and time,     And let thy sweet shade fall     In tenderest grace of soul and form     On memorys frescoed wall,     A shadow, and yet all!     Draw near, more near, forever dear!     Whereer I rest or roam,     Or in the citys crowded streets,     Or by the blown sea foam,     The thought of thee is home!     -    -    -    -    -     At breakfast hour the singer read     The city news, with comment wise,     Like one who felt the pulse of trade     Beneath his finger fall and rise.     His look, his air, his curt speech, told     The man of action, not of books,     To whom the corners made in gold     And stocks were more than seaside nooks.     Of life beneath the life confessed     His song had hinted unawares;     Of flowers in traffics ledgers pressed,     Of human hearts in bulls and bears.     But eyes in vain were turned to watch     That face so hard and shrewd and strong;     And ears in vain grew sharp to catch     The meaning of that morning song.     In vain some sweet-voiced querist sought     To sound him, leaving as she came;     Her baited album only caught     A common, unromantic name.     No word betrayed the mystery fine,     That trembled on the singers tongue;     He came and went, and left no sign     Behind him save the song he sung.