Dreams of the Sea

I know not why I yearn for thee again,

To sail once more upon thy fickle flood;

I’ll hear thy waves wash under my death-bed,

Thy salt is lodged forever in my blood.

Yet I have seen thee lash the vessel’s sides

In fury, with thy many tailèd whip;

And I have seen thee, too, like Galilee,

When Jesus walked in peace to Simon’s ship.

And I have seen thy gentle breeze as soft

As summer’s, when it makes the cornfields run;

And I have seen thy rude and lusty gale

Make ships show half their bellies to the sun.