Poem by Henry Kendall

Poems and Songs (1862). Waiting and Wishing

   I loiter by this surging sea,
   Here, by this surging, sooming sea,
   Here, by this wailing, wild-faced sea,
   Dreaming through the dreamy night;
   Yearning for a strange delight!
   Will it ever, ever, ever fly to me,
       By this surging sea,
       By this surging, sooming sea,
       By this wailing, wild-faced sea?

   I know some gentle spirit lives,
   Some loving, lonely spirit lives,
   Some melancholy spirit lives,
   Walking o'er the earth for me,
   Searching round the world for me!
   Will she ever, ever, ever hither come?
       Where the waters roam,
       Where the sobbing waters roam!
       Where the raving waters roam!

   All worn and wasted by the storms,
   All gapped and fractured by the storms,
   All split and splintered by the storms,
   Overhead the caverns groan,
   Gloomy, ghastly caverns groan!—
   Will she ever, ever, ever fill this heart?
       Peace, O longing heart!
       Peace, O longing, beating heart!
       Peace, O beating, weary heart!

1. Early Poems (1859-70). Elijah
2. Early Poems (1859-70). Caroline Chisholm
3. Other Poems (1871-82). Aboriginal Death-Song
4. Other Poems (1871-82). John Bede Polding
5. Early Poems (1859-70). Dungog

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