A Sea Glimpse

HIGH tide, and the year at ebb:The sea is a dream to-day:The sky is a gossamer webOf sapphire, and pearl, and gray:

A veil over rock and boat;A breath on the tremulous blue,Where the dim sails lie afloat,Or, unaware, slip from view.

They veer to the rosy ray;They dusk to the violet shade;Like a thought they flit away;Like a foolish hope, they fade.

But listen! a sudden plash!A ship is heaving in sight,With a stir, and a noisy dashOf the salt foam, seething white.

Tar-grimed and weather-stained,The sailors shout from her deck:Naught of the sky blue-veined,Or the dreamy waves they reck.

And the sunburnt girl, who standsWhere her feet on the wet wrack slip,Eyes shaded with lithe, brown hands,—She sees but the coming ship.