Herbert J. Hall

AN OCEAN wind came in at break of day.

I saw it span the level water floor

And gain the bare hills of a listless shore

That in the yellow sunlight waiting lay.

I saw the blue sea coming o’er the gray

As sweeps across a life unstirred before

A breath of new creation evermore

To blow in fresher currents on its way.

On came the breeze, its forward gusts outflung

Fanwise in eager haste to reach the strand.

And oh the sweetness of the first breath drawn!

It is a common thing, but seldom sung,

This blessed meeting of the sea and land,

The great sea-freshening of the world at dawn.