In the Days When the World Was Wide, and Other Verses

The Wreck of the 'Derry Castle'

 Day of ending for beginnings!
 Ocean hath another innings,
     Ocean hath another score;
 And the surges sing his winnings,
 And the surges shout his winnings,
 And the surges shriek his winnings,
     All along the sullen shore.

 Sing another dirge in wailing,
 For another vessel sailing
     With the shadow-ships at sea;
 Shadow-ships for ever sinking —
 Shadow-ships whose pumps are clinking,
 And whose thirsty holds are drinking
     Pledges to Eternity.

 Pray for souls of ghastly, sodden
 Corpses, floating round untrodden
     Cliffs, where nought but sea-drift strays;
 Souls of dead men, in whose faces
 Of humanity no trace is —
 Not a mark to show their races —
     Floating round for days and days.

      .    .    .    .    .

 Ocean's salty tongues are licking
  Round the faces of the drowned,
 And a cruel blade seems sticking
  Through my heart and turning round.

 Heaven! shall HIS ghastly, sodden
  Corpse float round for days and days?
 Shall it dash 'neath cliffs untrodden,
  Rocks where nought but sea-drift strays?

 God in heaven! hide the floating,
  Falling, rising, face from me;
 God in heaven! stay the gloating,
  Mocking singing of the sea!