The Fisher

ALL night a noise of leaping fish Went round the bay, And up and down the shallow sands Sang waters at their play. The mangroves drooped on salty creeks, And through the dark, Making a pale patch in the deep, Gleamed, as it swam, a shark. In streaks and twists of sudden fire Among the reeds The bream went by, and where they passed The bubbles shone like beads. All night the full deep drinking-song Of Nature stirred, And nought beside, save leaping fish And some forlorn night-bird. No lost wind wandered down the hills To tell of wide Wild waterways; on velvet moved The silky, sucking tide. Deep down there sloped in shadowy mass A giant hill; And midway, mirrored in the tide, The stars burned large and still. The fisher, dreaming on the rocks, Heard Nature say Strange, secret things that none may hear Upon the beaten way; And whisperings and wonder stirred, And hopes and fears, And sadness touched his heart, and filled His eyes with star-stained tears: And so, thrilled through with joy and love And sweet distress, He stood entranced, enchained by her Full-breasted loveliness.