Aboard The “Sea-Swallow”

The gloom of the sea-fronting cliffs Lay on the water, violet-dark, The pennon drooped, the sail fell in, And slowly moved our bark.

A golden day; the summer dreamed In heaven and on the whispering sea, Within our hearts the summer dreamed; The hours had ceased to be.

Then rose the girls with bonnets loosed, And shining tresses lightly blown, Alice and Adela, and sang A song of Mendelssohn.

O sweet, and sad, and wildly clear, Through summer air it sinks and swells, Wild with a measureless desire, And sad with all farewells.