Hope

We sailed and sailed upon the desert sea Where for whole days we alone seemed to be. At last we saw a dim, vague line arise Between the empty billows and the skies, That grew and grew until it wore the shape Of cove and inlet, promontory and cape; Then hills and valleys, rivers, fields, and woods, Steeples and roofs, and village neighborhoods. And then I thought, “Sometime I shall embark Upon a sea more desert and more dark Than ever this was, and between the skies And empty billows I shall see arise Another world out of that waste and lapse, Like yonder land. Perhaps—perhaps—perhaps!”