| The floating nautilus
rose clear and pale,
As though a spirit trimmed its fairy sail,
White and transparent; and beyond it gleamed
Such light as never yet on Ocean beamed:
And pink-lipped shells, and many-coloured weeds,
And long brown bulbous things likc jasper beads,
And glistening pearls in beauty faint and fair,
And all things strange, and wonderful, and rare,
Whose true existence travellers make known,
Seemed scattered there, and easily my own.
And then we wove our ciphers in the sands,
All fondly intertwined by loving hands;
And laughed to see the rustling snow-white spray
Creep o'er the names, and wash their trace away.
And the storm came not, though the white foam curled
In lines of brightness far along the coast;
Though many a ship, with swelling sails unfurled,
From the mid-sea to sheltering haven crossed;
Though the wild billows heaved, and rose, and broke,
One o'er the other with a restless sound,
And the deep spirit of the wind awoke,
Ruffling in wrath each glassy verdant mound;
While onward rolled that army of huge waves,
Until the foremost, with exulting roar,
Rose, proudly crested, o'er his brother slaves,
And dashed triumphant on the groaning shore!
For then the Moon rose up, Night's mournful Queen,
'Walking with white feet o'er the troubled Sea,'
And all grew still again, as she had been
Heaven's messenger to bring Tranquillity;
Till, pale and tender, on the glistening main
She sank and smiled like one who loves in vain.
And still we lingered by that shadowy strand,
Happy, yet full of thought, hand linked in hand;
The hushed waves rippling softly at our feet,
The night-breeze freshening o'er the Summer's heat;
With our hearts beating, and our gazing eyes
Fixed on the star-light of those deep blue skies,
Blessing 'the year, the hour, the place, the time;'
While sounded, faint and far, some turret's midnight chime.
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