Poems / by James G. Percival [electronic text]

VOYAGE OF LIFE.

I LAUNCHED my bark upon a waveless sea— The morning glowed, the sun just risen shone In dazzling light along the glassy plain, That seemed a golden mirror, or as oft A transient zephyr ruffled it, a flood Of molten amber. How the purple sail, And blue and crimson streamer wooed the wind. At times the bellying bosom of the sheet Received the rising gale, and onward bore The white and glittering prow, as through the wave It ploughed and heaved around the crested foam, Like snow-wreaths resting on a ground of gold. Again the rising zephyr died away, The boundless air was still, the canvass flapped And trembled on the yard, the streamers drooped, And fluttering waved around the mast-head, sea And air were motionless—the crystal flood Opened its awful depths beneath—so clear, The bark seemed hanging in the midway space Between the sky above and earth below: So still the elements, the briny drop,

That trickled from the prow to meet the wave, Was heard distinctly, and the rippling shoal Of blue-finned mackerel, or the whispering flight Of the air-loving dweller of the deep, Fell on my ear and woke me from my dream. So passed the bark of life o'er childhood's sea, But youth came on, and blustering winds arose; Dark tempests gathered round, the howling blast Roared through the cordage, every sail was rent, The loosened helm gave way, and like the steed Maddened with luxury, that flies the rein And hurries on to ruin, so the bark Ran wild before the tempest; now it rose The billowy mountain, in the yawning gulph Now headlong plunged; the shriek was then unheard Amid the vaster tumult; then the night Of storms enwrapped me, by the bursting foam, The sparkling fire of ocean, or the flash, The harbinger of thunder, or the pale And baleful meteor of sickly green, That on the bowsprit led the way to death, Alone illumined. What a deafening roar From bursting billows, how the breaker's voice, Conflicting with the sea-beat crag, arose And bellowed through the gloom; the sea-dog there, Mounted above his danger, howled and bayed; The dying whale dashed on the splintery rock, Groaned out his giant soul; the cormorant

Flapped his black wings around my head; the loon, Perched on the topmast, sent his baleful scream, Like the mad moanings of a tortured man. So raged the storm around me, till a light, Dimly discovered through the darkness, showed Where help might yet be found; a secret hand Then seemed to grasp the rudder, o'er the waves The bark right onward held its steady course; The tempest seemed to mitigate its rage, The thunders ceased, the clouds spread out their veil In thinner folds, and through a transient break Sent a faint gleam of sunshine; from behind A gentle wind blew steady; in the west The golden sky shone out, a larger curve Of brightness every instant opened, till The sun unveiled his face, and far away The tempest hurried o'er the mountain waves: It darkling flew, till on its bosom rose The many-coloured bow; serenity Then filled the air, the white gull o'er me flew, And the blue halcyon came and on the wave Alighted, hid its head beneath its wing, And slept as on a pillow; still the sea Lifted its broad green back, and seemed to rock Its fury to repose; I neared the land, Blue hills first smiled, then sandy shores, like snow Bleached on the heaven-ward mountain, caught my eye, The light-house next, that with its warning fire,

Calls from the deep the wanderer to his home. The sun in cloudless majesty, as king Of nature, kindled ocean with his rays, And made the land more lovely; on I sailed, The haven spread its arms to call me in, And clasp me in its bosom; there I steered, And casting anchor, where no storm can rage, Nor tempest rock me, on the peaceful breast Of love eternal moored my bark forever.