Full Tide

Sea-scents, wild-rose scents, Bay and barberry too, Drench the wind, the Maine wind, That gulls are dipping thro, With soft hints, sweet hints, With lull, lure and desire; With memory-wafts and mysteries, And all the ineffable histories Made when the sea and land meet, And the sun lends nuptial fire.

Sea-foam, and dream-foam, And which is which, who knows, When all day long the heart goes out To every wave that blows, That blossoms on the bright tide, Then sheds a shimmering crest And yields its tossing place to one Whose blooming is as quickly done-- For beauty is ever swift--begot Of rapture and unrest.

Sea-deeps, and soul-deeps, And where shall faith be found If not within the heart's beat Or in the surging sound Of the sea, which is the earth's heart, Beating with tireless might; Beating--tho but a tragedy Life seems on every land and sea; Beating to bring all breath, somehow, Out of despair's blight.