THE SOUL AND THE SEA

By James Allan Mackereth

I hear the shouting of th’ exultant sea,

Its reel and crash along the shuddering strand;

Through muffling mist the wide reverberant land

In thunderous labour laughs exultantly;

The wrestling wind's tumultuous revelry

Whips into whirling clouds the blanched sea-sand;

The primal powers in grim convulsion grand

Strive, straining agonists, frenzied to be free.

And in the lapses of the roaring gale

I hear the cries of lives that rage and weep,

That sow for ever, and that never reap;

Brave hearts that travail with all hopes that fail

Break with the breakers; with a wandering wail

Flies sorrow with white lips along the deep.