A Dead Sea-Gull

LACK-LUSTRE eye, and idle wing,

And smirchèd breast that skims no more,

White as the foam itself, the wave--

Hast thou not even a grave

Upon the dreary shore,

Forlorn, forsaken thing?

Thou whom the deep seas could not drown,

Nor all the elements affright,

Flashing like thought across the main,

Mocking the hurricane,

Screaming with shrill delight

When the great ship went down.

Thee not thy beauty saved, nor mirth,

Nor daring, nor thy humble lot,

One among thousands--in quick haste

Fate clutched thee as she passed;

Dead--how, it matters not:

Corrupting, earth to earth.

And not a league from where it lies

Lie bodies once as free from stain,

And hearts as gay as this sea-bird's,

Whom all the preachers' words

Will ne'er make white again,

Or from the dead to rise.

Rot, pretty bird, in harmless clay:--

We sing too much poetic woes;

Let us be doing while we can:

Blessed the Christian man

Who on life's shore seeks those

Dying of soul decay.