The morning was fearful at sea-- <br />The voyagers weary and pale; <br />Their steamer a wreck, from keel to deck, <br />Before an Autumnal gale. <br />Old Neptune came forth in power-- <br />He wore on his features a frown; <br />And many a guest he took to rest, <br />When the "Evening Star" went down. <br /> <br />They sleep in a fathomless grave, <br />The guest and the mariner brave; <br />They pillow their heads on coral beds, <br />Beneath the blue ocean waves, <br />Beneath the blue ocean waves. <br /> <br />Sail'd ever a ship from her quay, <br />So heavily laden as she, <br />With folly and fame, with hope and shame, <br />With vanity, mirth and glee? <br />But in the dark moment that came, <br />How useless were rank and renown! <br />And honors of earth, what were they worth, <br />When the "Evening Star" went down. <br /> <br />The treacherous ocean is calm-- <br />No longer in storm billows toss's; <br />Yet darkness and cloud will long enshroud <br />The hearts that were link'd with the lost. <br />In how many, how many homes, <br />Far distant, in country or town, <br />A light was put out, in dread, in doubt, <br />When the "Evening Star" when down.<br /><br />Henry Clay Work<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-the-evening-star-went-down/
