The Maiden’s Heart and the Ocean.
They sparkled and danced in the morning
light,1
The maiden’s heart and the golden sea ;2
For the maid had her love, and the sea her sun,3
And life was joy with the morn begun,4
And the tide running fast and free.5
The moonlit sea and the maiden’s heart,6
They quivered and throbbed with pain,7
And sobbed in the night to the stars above,8
“ Give me back the sun ! Give me back my love !”9
And listened, and sobbed again.10
But the stars cried out to the heaving sea11
That moaned in the light of the moon,12
“ Though you grieve for the sun with his warming breath,13
’Tis the moon that stirs you and keeps you from death,14
From death in a stagnant swoon.”15
And something said to the maiden’s heart,16
As it shook in the storms of life,17
“ Grief has its purpose and sorrow its ends,18
They may prove at the last the best of friends,19
When death sheds its light o’er the strife.”20