Clinton Scollard

Sea Lyrics

  I

  We heard the breakers clash and boom;
    We saw them plunge and writhe and rise,
  And toss great flakes of ashen spume
    High toward the ashen skies.

  Out of the welter of the east
    One gaunt barque like a spectre bore;
  The mad wind trumpeted, then ceased,
    Then trumpeted once more.

  A mist crept landward, the spent wraith
    Of tempests raging far a-lee;
  Then day died like an outworn faith,
    And night fell on the sea.

  II

  O'erhead, the iridescence of the stars,
    Ray blending softly with refulgent ray;
  Below, above the harbor's hidden bars,
    The crumbling iridescence of the spray.

  Before, a beacon flashing level lines,
    Seemingly poised upon the far sea-verge;
  Behind, the night wind in the oaks and pines,
    Crooning in answer to the crooning surge.