Sonnet 2 (Why dost thou beat thy breast and rend thine hair)
Poems — Volume 1
Why dost thou beat thy breast and rend thine hair,And to the deaf sea pour thy frantic cries?Before the gale the laden vessel flies;The Heavens all-favouring smile, the breeze is fair;Hark to the clamours of the exulting crew!Hark how their thunders mock the patient skies!Why dost thou shriek and strain thy red-swoln eyesAs the white sail dim lessens from thy view?Go pine in want and anguish and despair,There is no mercy found in human-kind—Go Widow to thy grave and rest thee there!But may the God of Justice bid the windWhelm that curst bark beneath the mountain wave,And bless with Liberty and Death the Slave!