Down on the shore, on the sunny shore! <br />Where the salt smell cheers the land; <br />Where the tide moves bright under boundless light, <br />And the surge on the glittering strand; <br />Where the children wade in the shallow pools, <br />Or run from the froth in play; <br />Where the swift little boats with milk-white wings <br />Are crossing the sapphire bay, <br />And the ship in full sail, with a fortunate gale, <br />Holds proudy on her way; <br />Where the nets are spread on the grass to dry, <br />And asleep, hard by, the fishermen lie, <br />Under the tent of the warm blue sky, <br />With the hushing wave on its golden floor <br />To sing their lullaby. <br /> <br />Down on the shore, on the stormy shore! <br />Beset by a growling sea, <br />Whose mad waves leap on the rocky steep <br />Like wolves up a traveller's tree; <br />Where the foam flies wide, and an angry blast <br />Blows the curlew off, with a screech; <br />Where the brown sea-wrack, torn up by the roots, <br />Is flung out of fishes' reach; <br />And the tall ship rolls on the hidden shoals, <br />And scatters her planks on the beach; <br />Where slate and straw through the village spin, <br />And a cottage fronts the fiercest din <br />With a sailor's wife sitting sad within, <br />Hearkening the wind and the water's roar, <br />Till at last her tears begin.<br /><br />William Allingham<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/down-on-the-shore/
