Inlet And Shore.

Here is a world of changing glow,     Where moods roll swiftly far and wide;     Waves sadder than a funeral's pride,     Or bluer than the harebell's blow!     The sunlight makes the black hulls cast     A firefly radiance down the deep;     The inlet gleams, the long clouds sweep,     The sails flit up, the sails drop past.     The far sea-line is hushed and still;     The nearer sea has life and voice;     Each soul may take his fondest choice, -     The silence, or the restless thrill.     O little children of the deep, -     The single sails, the bright, full sails,     Gold in the sun, dark when it fails,     Now you are smiling, then you weep!     O blue of heaven, and bluer sea,     And green of wave, and gold of sky,     And white of sand that stretches by,     Toward east and west, away from me!     O shell-strewn shore, that silent hears     The legend of the mighty main,     And tells to none the lore again, -     We catch one utterance only: "Years!"