Sea Rhapsody

(Out of Hong-kong)

Never again, never again Did I hope to breathe such joy! The sea is blue and the winds halloo Up to the sun "Ahoy!" "Ahoy!" they shout and the mists they rout From the mountain-tops go streaming In happy play where the gulls sway, And a million waves are gleaming!

And every wave, billowing brave, Is tipped with a wild delight. A garden of isles around me smiles, Bathed in the blue noon light, The rude brown bunk of the fishing junk Seems fair as a sea-king's palace: O wine of the sky the gods have spilt Out of its crystal chalice!

For wine is the wind, wine the sea, Wine for the sinking spirit, To lift it up from the cling of clay Into high Bliss--or near it! So let me drink till I cease to think, And know with a sting of rapture That joy is yet as wide as the world For men, at last, to capture!