Page:The West Indies, and Other Poems.djvu/160
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148
Like shooting stars, athwart the gloom
The merchant-sails were sped;
Yet oft, before its midnight doom,
They mark'd the high mast head
Of that devoted vessel, tost
By winds and floods, now seen, now lost;
While every gun-fire spread
A dimmer flash, a fainter roar;
—At length they saw, they heard no more.
The merchant-sails were sped;
Yet oft, before its midnight doom,
They mark'd the high mast head
Of that devoted vessel, tost
By winds and floods, now seen, now lost;
While every gun-fire spread
A dimmer flash, a fainter roar;
—At length they saw, they heard no more.
There are to whom that ship was dear,
For love and kindred's sake;
When these the voice of Rumour hear,
Their inmost heart shall quake,
Shall doubt, and fear, and wish, and grieve,
Believe, and long to unbelieve,
But never cease to ache;
Still doom'd, in sad suspense, to bear
The Hope that keeps alive Despair.
For love and kindred's sake;
When these the voice of Rumour hear,
Their inmost heart shall quake,
Shall doubt, and fear, and wish, and grieve,
Believe, and long to unbelieve,
But never cease to ache;
Still doom'd, in sad suspense, to bear
The Hope that keeps alive Despair.