The courtship of Miles Standish and other poems . the schooner Hesperus, That sailed the wintry sea;And the skipper had taken his little daughter, To bear him company. 132 THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax,Her cheeks Hke the dawn of day, And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds,That ope in the month of May. The skipper he stood beside the helm, His pipe was in his mouthyAnd he watched how the veering flaw did blow The smoke now West, now South. Then up and spake an old Sailor,Had sailed to the Spanish Main, I pray thee, put into yonder port,For I fear a hurricane.
The courtship of Miles Standish and other poems . the schooner Hesperus, That sailed the wintry sea;And the skipper had taken his little daughter, To bear him company. 132 THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax,Her cheeks Hke the dawn of day, And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds,That ope in the month of May. The skipper he stood beside the helm, His pipe was in his mouthyAnd he watched how the veering flaw did blow The smoke now West, now South. Then up and spake an old Sailor,Had sailed to the Spanish Main, I pray thee, put into yonder port,For I fear a hurricane. Last night, the moon had a golden to-night no moon we see! The skipper, he blew a whiff from his a scornful laugh laughed he. Colder and louder blew the wind, A gale from the Northeast,The snow fell hissing in the brine, And the billows frothed like yeast. Down came the storm, and smote amainThe vessel in its strength; THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS 133 She shuddered and paused, like a frightened steed,Then leaped her cables 134 THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS *^Come hither! come hither! my little daughter, And do not tremble so;For I can weather the roughest gale That ever wind did blow. He wrapped her warm in his seamans coat Against the stinging blast;He cut a rope from a broken spar. And bound her to the mast. *0 father! I hear the church-bells ring, O say, what may it be?T is a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!— And he steered for the open sea. O father! I hear the sound of guns, O say, what may it be?Some ship in distress, that cannot live In such an angry sea! O father! I see a gleaming light, O say, what may it be ?But the father answered never a word, A frozen corpse was he. Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark,With his face turned to the skies. THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS 135 The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snowOn his fixed and glassy eyes. Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed That saved she might be;And she thought of Christ, who sti
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlongfell, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
