Shadows (Howe)/By the Shore
BY THE SHORE
OWN-BELLS over the land,Fog-bells over the sea;
On the beach between in the mist I stand,
And each bell calls to me.
Out of the fog I hear:
"Come, I am cool and sweet;
My veil shall wrap thee away from fear,
My paths shall rest thy feet.
"Come, I am cool and sweet;
My veil shall wrap thee away from fear,
My paths shall rest thy feet.
"Come as the ship that came
Into me on a morn of gray;
Follow it, naming Love's dear name,
And find what it bore away.
Into me on a morn of gray;
Follow it, naming Love's dear name,
And find what it bore away.
"Find? Yes, so it may chance;
Yet come for the respite's sake;
Enough that I pledge you my ocean's trance
And oblivion—come, and take!"
Yet come for the respite's sake;
Enough that I pledge you my ocean's trance
And oblivion—come, and take!"
And the land bells ring me: "Here,
Here are the fixed and true;
We ring for the lifted mists, the clear
Sure noons of gleaming blue.
Here are the fixed and true;
We ring for the lifted mists, the clear
Sure noons of gleaming blue.
"Out into the day we call
You and your peers, like men,
Girt as ye are, to win and fall,
And falling to win again.
You and your peers, like men,
Girt as ye are, to win and fall,
And falling to win again.
"Strength is yours for a shield;
Take heart, and grasp it fast!
Come, and bear from the hard-fought field
The guerdon of love at last!"
Take heart, and grasp it fast!
Come, and bear from the hard-fought field
The guerdon of love at last!"
On the beach in the mist I stand,
And voices are calling me,—
Town-bells over the land,
Fog-bells over the sea.
And voices are calling me,—
Town-bells over the land,
Fog-bells over the sea.