Sweet halcyon days, warm summer sea,

And dark-lined shores upon the lee!

Their profile cedars, sharply drawn,

Bold black against the flushing dawn,

 Once more in thought we seem to creep By lonely reefs where sea-birds scream, Ulysses-like, along the deep Borne onward in the ocean-stream. The sea-floor spreadeth glassy still; No breath the idle sail doth fill; Our oar-blades smite the heavy seas; Under the world the morning breeze Treads with the sun the unknown ways. Thus steer we o'er the solemn main Eating the Lotus-fruit again, Dreaming that time forever stays, Singing "Where, Absence, is thy sting?" Listening to hear our echoes ring Through the far rocks where Sirens sing. 

By lonely reefs where sea-birds scream,

Borne onward in the ocean-stream.

Thus steer we o'er the solemn main

Eating the Lotus-fruit again,

 

 

   THE MERMAID'S GLASS 

 'T was down among the Thimble Isles That strew for many "liquid miles" The waters of Long Island Sound: Our yacht lay in a cove; around The rocky isles with cedars green And channels winding in between: And here a low, black reef was spread, And there a sunken "nigger-head" Dimpled the surface of the tide. From one tall island's cliffy side We heard the shaggy goats that fed: The gulls wheeled screaming overhead Or settled in a snowy flock Far out upon the lonely rock Which, like a pillar, seemed to show Some drowned acropolis below. Meanwhile, in the warm sea about, With many a plunge and jolly shout, Our crew enjoyed 

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