Children of the elemental mother, <br />Born upon some lonely island shore <br />Where the wrinkled ripples run and whisper, <br />Where the crested billows plunge and roar; <br />Long-winged, tireless roamers and adventurers, <br />Fearless breasters of the wind and sea, <br />In the far-off solitary places <br />I have seen you floating wild and free! <br /> <br />Here the high-built cities rise around you; <br />Here the cliffs that tower east and west, <br />Honeycombed with human habitations, <br />Have no hiding for the sea-bird's nest: <br />Here the river flows begrimed and troubled; <br />Here the hurrying, panting vessels fume, <br />Restless, up and down the watery highway, <br />While a thousand chimneys vomit gloom. <br /> <br />Toil and tumult, confiict and confusion, <br />Clank and clamor of the vast machine <br />Human hands have built for human bondage -- <br />Yet amid it all you float serene; <br />Circling, soaring, sailing, swooping lightly <br />Down to glean your harvest from the wave; <br />In your heritage of air and water, <br />You have kept the freedom Nature gave. <br /> <br />Even so the wild-woods of Manhattan <br />Saw your wheeling flocks of white and grey; <br />Even so you fluttered, followed, floated, <br />Round the Half-Moon creeping up the bay; <br />Even so your voices creaked and chattered, <br />Laughing shrilly o'er the tidal rips, <br />While your black and beady eyes were glistening <br />Round the sullen British prison-ships. <br /> <br />Children of the elemental mother, <br />Fearless floaters 'mid the double blue, <br />From the crowded boats that cross the ferries <br />Many a longing heart goes out to you. <br />Though the cities climb and close around us, <br />Something tells us that our souls are free, <br />While the sea-gulls fly above the harbor, <br />While the river flows to meet the sea!<br /><br />Henry Van Dyke<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sea-gulls-of-manhattan/
