| |
| AH! what pleasant visions haunt me | |
| As I gaze upon the sea! | |
| All the old romantic legends, | |
| All my dreams, come back to me. | |
| |
| Sails of silk and ropes of sandal, | 5 |
| Such as gleam in ancient lore; | |
| And the singing of the sailors, | |
| And the answer from the shore! | |
| |
| Most of all, the Spanish ballad | |
| Haunts me oft, and tarries long, | 10 |
| Of the noble Count Arnaldos | |
| And the sailor’s mystic song. | |
| |
| Like the long waves on a sea-beach, | |
| Where the sand as silver shines, | |
| With a soft, monotonous cadence, | 15 |
| Flow its unrhymed lyric lines;— | |
| |
| Telling how the Count Arnaldos, | |
| With his hawk upon his hand, | |
| Saw a fair and stately galley, | |
| Steering onward to the land;— | 20 |
| |
| How he heard the ancient helmsman | |
| Chant a song so wild and clear, | |
| That the sailing sea-bird slowly | |
| Poised upon the mast to hear, | |
| |
| Till his soul was full of longing, | 25 |
| And he cried, with impulse strong,— | |
| “Helmsman! for the love of heaven, | |
| Teach me, too, that wondrous song!” | |
| |
| “Wouldst thou,”—so the helmsman answered, | |
| “Learn the secret of the sea? | 30 |
| Only those who brave its dangers | |
| Comprehend its mystery!” | |
| |
| In each sail that skims the horizon, | |
| In each landward-blowing breeze, | |
| I behold that stately galley, | 35 |
| Hear those mournful melodies; | |
| |
| Till my soul is full of longing | |
| For the secret of the sea, | |
| And the heart of the great ocean | |
| Sends a thrilling pulse through me. | 40 |
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