Sometime.

On the shore I sit and gaze     Out on the twilight sea,     For my ship may come, though many days     I have waited patiently;     With waiting trusting eyes,     A lonely watch I keep     For its silver sails to rise     Like a blossom out of the deep.     It is built of a costly wood,     Bearing the strange perfume     Of the gorgeous solitude,     Where it grew in tropical gloom;     And the odorous scent, the spicy balm     Of its isle it will bear to me,     As I stand on the shore, in the magic calm.     And my ship come in from sea.     It is laden with all that is sweet     Of the beauty of every clime;     Slowly and proudly 'twill glide to my feet     In the eve of that fair "Sometime,"     Before me its sails will be furled,     A princess I shall be,     Crowned with the wealth of the world,     When my ship comes in from sea.     Sweet faces I then shall see,     Tender, undoubting, true,     Soft hands will be stretched to me     With a welcome I never knew;     In the peace of such tenderness     I shall rest forevermore,     And weep in my perfect bliss,     As I never wept before.     Sometimes I think it is not far     And I bend my head and list,     For I think I see a slender spar     Gleam through the golden mist;     And I fancy I hear the sound     Of wind in a silken sail,     And an odor rare from Eastern ground,     Floats in on the languid gale.     But I sit and watch the west     Till the sun goes down, in vain;     It was only a cloud with an ivory crest,     A cloud of vapor and rain;     It rises and hides the sea,     And my heart grows chill and numb,     Lest this terrible thing should be,     That my ship will never come.     But the morn is bright - the wave     Is a golden and shining track,     Softly the waters the white sands lave,     And my trusting faith comes back;     Oh, all that I ever lost,     And all that I long to be,     Will be mine when the deep is crossed,     And my ship comes home from sea.