Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1895-08-17

oftlfS IA Uni"
freighted my ships with the richest hope
And sent them out to sea;
And the sailors stood at the yielding ropes
And laughed and chatted in noisy glee,
And chanted n cheerful yo-heave-yo,
As the keels went bounding over the mar
And the prOw5 were pointed to lands a'ar
Where never the winds but softly blow,
And there falls naught else on the gazing
eye
But the green of the grass and the blue OF
the sky.
0, argosies fair were those freighted SHIPS
And they bore on their decks q merry crew.
And the songs that fell from their laughing
lips
Sent echoes bach through the noontide blue,
Which | caught as | stood on heaiIana
bold
And watched the wake OF foamy gold
That they left behind as they plowed '!e
sen
The ships that would soon come b"c% TO
me.
So home went through the meadow grass
And at night in sleep, when pagednt' pass
/ dreamed that my ships lay ON golden SallaS,
And heard the songs the sirens sing,
And saw the birds in the sky OF Juno
Elan over the masts on anguid wing;
And watched the stars adore the moon,
And dawn break ON these wondrouS lands.
l looked to leeward
] looked to seaward,
And the silken sails fell in lazy folds,
And roses and daisies and marigodS
Flung their scent to the breeze which had
carried so free
The ships that would soon como back to
me.
come We from East or come we from west
Or come We from North or come ye from
South,
From lands where is nothing but sunshine
and rest,
Where never is winter or pitilesS drouth.
My ships have We seen,
Or their sails siken Sheen
As the prows leaped over the waves hoddIhs
crest2
All this would say
To the sailors each day,
Whose vessels came over the harbor par
And ended the voyage from lands aIar.
so far have we been,
But your ships were not seen;
We have sailed to the East and then to The
Vest
To the North and the South on the pitiIes
sea;
But we know not the lands Of sunshine an'
rest
Thy ships will never come back to taee.
Yet waited AMI watche through the weary
years,
For glimpse Of the ships had sent away
So richly freighted in youth bright day;
And my heart was sometimes heavy to tears
And my eyes grew dim and my steps wer
weak.
And burroughs were plowel on my paili
cheek
Yet oft would laugh in boyish glee,
For knew that my ships would come ba"
tome.
IT'S the last of earth, am passing away,
The shadows grow long, It's tho close {
day,
Do dream? What sound is that which
heard2
listen; and 10, on my throbbing ear
There falls once more the yO-heave-yo
, That | heard from the sailors so long ago.
| look rrcm my easement, out, out on tn
sea;
My ships, with sails set. are coming to me.
The mariners stand at the yielding ropes.
The decks are freighted with richest hope
And youths and madens in merry glee
L Are shouting joyous welcome to me.
d The ships come nearer. they cross the bar,
d Above them blossoms the evening star;
e There's purple light in the summer sea,
y And radiant glory on mountain and lea;
.. l look on my ship can see on each face
4 OF the friends whom loved a tender grac
They wave their hands as they stand on Il
PROV,
a And, see! see! they beckon me now;
+ They are waiting to tell me my watching
Ger.
- arise from my couch and | pass throus
a. the door;
- The long quest is ended, my spirit is free,
And my ships have at last come back
me.
John V, Hood, In Philadelphia Inquire