Inlet and Shore

Here is a world of changing glow, Where moods roll swiftly far and wide; Waves sadder than a funeral's pride, Or bluer than the harebell's blow! The sunlight makes the black hulls cast A firefly radiance down the deep; The inlet gleams, the long clouds sweep, The sails flit up, the sails drop past. The far sea-line is hushed and still; The nearer sea has life and voice; Each soul may take his fondest choice,-- The silence, or the restless thrill. O little children of the deep,-- The single sails, the bright, full sails, Gold in the sun, dark when it fails, Now you are smiling, then you weep! O blue of heaven, and bluer sea, And green of wave, and gold of sky, And white of sand that stretches by, Toward east and west, away from me! O shell-strewn shore, that silent hears The legend of the mighty main, And tells to none the lore again,-- We catch one utterance only: "Years!"