Poem by Cale Young Rice

A Sea-Ghost

Oh, fisher-fleet, go in from the sea
  And furl your wings.
The bay is gray with the twilit spray
  And the loud surf springs.

The chill buoy-bell is rung by the hands
  Of all the drowned,
Who know the woe of the wind and tow
  Of the tides around.

Go in, go in! Oh, haste from the sea,
  And let them rest--
The throng who long for the air--still long,
  But are still unblest.

Aye, even as I, whose hands at the bell
  Now labour most.
The tomb has gloom, but oh, the doom
  Of the drear sea-ghost!

He evermore must wander the ooze
  Beneath the wave,
Forlorn--to warn of the tempest born,
  And to save--to save!

Then go, go in! and leave us the sea,
  For only so
Can peace release us and give us ease
  Of our salty woe.

1. I Know Your Heart, O Sea!
2. To a Firefly by the Sea
3. The Shore's Song to the Sea
4. Sea-Hoardings

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