Unknown to you, I walk the cheerless shore. <br /> The cutting blast, the hurl of biting brine <br />May freeze, and still, and bind the waves at war, <br /> Ere you will ever know, O! Heart of mine, <br />That I have sought, reflected in the blue <br /> Of these sea depths, some shadow of your eyes; <br />Have hoped the laughing waves would sing of you, <br /> But this is all my starving sight descries-- <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Far out at sea a sail <br /> Bends to the freshening breeze, <br />Yields to the rising gale <br /> That sweeps the seas; <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />Yields, as a bird wind-tossed, <br /> To saltish waves that fling <br />Their spray, whose rime and frost <br /> Like crystals cling <br /> <br />III <br /> <br />To canvas, mast and spar, <br /> Till, gleaming like a gem, <br />She sinks beyond the far <br /> Horizon's hem. <br /> <br />IV <br /> <br />Lost to my longing sight, <br /> And nothing left to me <br />Save an oncoming night,-- <br /> An empty sea.<br /><br />Emily Pauline Johnson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/through-time-and-bitter-distance/
