Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By SophieJewett

1504 When Nature Hath Betrayed the Heart That Loved Her

THE GRAY waves rock against the gray skyline,

And break complaining on the long gray sand,

Here where I sit, who cannot understand

Their voice of pain, nor this dumb pain of mine;

For I, who thought to fare till my days end,

Armed sorrow-proof in sorrow, having known

How hearts bleed slow when brave lips make no moan,

How Life can torture, how Death may befriend

When Love entreats him hasten,—even I,

Who feared no human anguish that may be,

I cannot bear the grief of the sea,

I cannot bear the still grief of the sky.