Poems (Odom)/Baptism in the Sea
BAPTISM IN THE SEA.INSCRIBED TO DR. AND MRS. DUNKLIN, CHURCH STREET, GALVESTON.
The golden sunlight trembles down
Upon the sea's broad breast,
The blue waves roll
Like eager soul
Toward the land of rest.
Upon the sea's broad breast,
The blue waves roll
Like eager soul
Toward the land of rest.
They bow their crested heads to meet
The pilgrims on the shore,
Who turn to-day
In tears away
From sin forever more.
The pilgrims on the shore,
Who turn to-day
In tears away
From sin forever more.
Beneath the blue baptismal wave,
All human struggles cease;
Since Jesus stood
In Jordan's flood,
And found the Dove of Peace.
All human struggles cease;
Since Jesus stood
In Jordan's flood,
And found the Dove of Peace.
At God's command they quit the land,
Like Israel's hosts of yore,
The waves divide
As side by side
They humbly leave the shore.
Like Israel's hosts of yore,
The waves divide
As side by side
They humbly leave the shore.
And as I stand to-day and gaze
Upon the wave-washed strand,
And watch the foam
Come tossing home
To die upon the sand,
Upon the wave-washed strand,
And watch the foam
Come tossing home
To die upon the sand,
The thoughts arise of other years,
Of precious hopes long past—
Our friends and foes,
Our joys and woes,
On life's great ocean cast.
Of precious hopes long past—
Our friends and foes,
Our joys and woes,
On life's great ocean cast.
And dearer than all other days
That breathe of you, my wife,
I hold the one
When you begun
Your higher, purer life.
That breathe of you, my wife,
I hold the one
When you begun
Your higher, purer life.
'T was here, on this same beach you stood,
So many years ago,
The seal of grace
On your sweet face
Beside the water's flow.
So many years ago,
The seal of grace
On your sweet face
Beside the water's flow.
The same bright surf, yet not the same,
That flowed above your brow,
Baptismal graves—
Redeeming waves—
Where are those waters now?
That flowed above your brow,
Baptismal graves—
Redeeming waves—
Where are those waters now?
Gone murmuring to the boundless sea
Of God's eternal love,
Or like the mist by sunbeams kissed
They veil the blue above.
Of God's eternal love,
Or like the mist by sunbeams kissed
They veil the blue above.
Perchance again they fall in dew
Upon some marble tomb,
Sparkling and bright, like living light,
They gem its pallid gloom.
Upon some marble tomb,
Sparkling and bright, like living light,
They gem its pallid gloom.
Or trembling o'er some lowly grave
By daisy blooms up-borne,
They softly speak to death's pale cheek
Of Resurrection Morn.
By daisy blooms up-borne,
They softly speak to death's pale cheek
Of Resurrection Morn.
Those sacred waves are scattered now,
And fresher billows flow,
While strangers stand upon the strand
Where you stood years ago.
And fresher billows flow,
While strangers stand upon the strand
Where you stood years ago.
Buried with Christ—how sweet the thought,
To each regenerate breast,
That humbly bears, yet proudly wears,
God's seal upon it pressed.
To each regenerate breast,
That humbly bears, yet proudly wears,
God's seal upon it pressed.