Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1876-02-19
OLD HULDAH.
A BALLAD OF MARBLEHEAD.

[From the N. Y. Clipper.l
The fisherman stood all day by the beach
Stood where the breakers numbered in,
And heard the sound OF the sea birds screeeh,
And dash Of waves on the rocks of Lynn.
1.-THE storm is fierce, )" said the fisher old,
''And the wind is wlld,' the fisher SAID,
"The rocks are sharp, and the shore is bold
"And ey'ry ship that is now at sea,
Bound in to Lynn or to Marblehead,
Must keep the light three points on the lee,
Or be wrecked.' So the fisher said.
But not a pilot ventured out;
The storm was fierce and the wind was Wills
And the daring pilot, swart and stout,
Still thought OF hone and his wife and child
Thought OF them both, as the wind made moan,
The wind made moan to the breakers shock;
For the world is hard to the left alone,
Harder than any New England rock.
So the fisher waited by the shore,
Hearing the waves and the breakers din,
And Just at dusk, midst the tempsst's roar,
The good ship Etna came sailing in,
Staysails set and her courses furled,
Goose winged topsails upon her main,
To and fro was the good ship hurled
over the oceans Watery plain.
Plain no longer. for mountain waves
Broke the sea into burrows vast;
The white caps rose over countless graves
AS the tempest thundered past.
Up spoke Huldah. the fishers lie,
Brown old dame Of the fishing last:
Where's the pilot2 Every life
Is saved ifhe keeps his post
''There ia no pilot at sea to- night,n
Said Abner jackson, the skipper's son;
While over the waters came the light
And booming Crash Of signal gun.
Heavens! They are fetching past the land,
Past the p'Int-they will strike the Iockp'
Said lothian Davis. Close at hand
Came crash and rendlnR shock,
''Man the lfeboat!' No men stirred;
Over the dla of wind and wave,
Over the tempest's strife was heard
''Save!" but no human hand could save.
Clinging to the wave-washed deck,
Men and women in wild despair
Sent their pleading from OF the wreck,
Shaddering on the startled air.
| Then spoke Huldah, the dsher's wife.
does not man to save them dare
Will ye stand for worthless life,
While they cry in their wild despair ?''
"Shame on ye men! A woman's hand
Shall do the deed ye dare not try?
Who'll go with me from OF the land!''
~ will =! and l apuIl I and l I''
There they stood in the dying light,
DO Down @ by the boat, with oars in hand
Never before WAS seen on land.
Up spoke gruflly old Fisher Ben,
Scared old Triton OF the sea:
| ''Man that boat! Such sight, my men,
Never on earth was seen by me.'
can we can do at worst Is die.
Better die, - the old Triton said,
THAN live AS towards meath the eye
or the women )f Marblehead."
| Abner jackson then stepped out,
lothian Davis and Skipper Ben,
BlJah SorcrOss, and Ireson, stout
That, they felt. was the place for men.
| Out past the point where mountain high,
Crested bIllows in foam were tost,
Sometimes PLAIN on the stormy sky,
Sometimes hidden anu almost lost.
Round the point. on the stormy wave,
They reach the rock and gain the wreck;
Every lille they seek to save
Safe is taken from OF the deck.
| And now strain hard, the goal is near,
Each hand presses a bending oar;
Shout, o fishermen! cheer on cheer
Shout for ths have reached the shore.
| That was many year agone-
Many a fisherman is dead
Who saw the ship come sailing on
The cruel rocks of Marblehead.
Many a man who saw her sail,
Foam on her PROV, and rocks a-lee,
| With no breath of an earthly gale,
Save the waves oil the shorelsss sea.
The fisher old, with aching JOINT,
| Tells how the ship came sailing in,
| Wrecked the rocks beyond the point,
Lett her bones by the coast of Lynn.
| This is true; for, one stormy ,lay,
! While watched a passing sal,
| The clouds hung over, dim and gray,
| 4 fisher told me the tale.
Close to the point the rocks still lie,
| And any fisher were better dead
| Than . coward beneath the eye
| OF the women of Marblehead.