Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me <br />As I gaze upon the sea! <br />All the old romantic legends, <br />All my dreams, come back to me. <br /> <br />Sails of silk and ropes of sandal, <br />Such as gleam in ancient lore; <br />And the singing of the sailors, <br />And the answer from the shore! <br /> <br />Most of all, the Spanish ballad <br />Haunts me oft, and tarries long, <br />Of the noble Count Arnaldos <br />And the sailor's mystic song. <br /> <br />Like the long waves on a sea-beach, <br />Where the sand as silver shines, <br />With a soft, monotonous cadence, <br />Flow its unrhymed lyric lines;-- <br /> <br />Telling how the Count Arnaldos, <br />With his hawk upon his hand, <br />Saw a fair and stately galley, <br />Steering onward to the land;-- <br /> <br />How he heard the ancient helmsman <br />Chant a song so wild and clear, <br />That the sailing sea-bird slowly <br />Poised upon the mast to hear, <br /> <br />Till his soul was full of longing, <br />And he cried, with impulse strong,-- <br />'Helmsman! for the love of heaven, <br />Teach me, too, that wondrous song!' <br /> <br />'Wouldst thou,'--so the helmsman answered, <br />'Learn the secret of the sea? <br />Only those who brave its dangers <br />Comprehend its mystery!' <br /> <br />In each sail that skims the horizon, <br />In each landward-blowing breeze, <br />I behold that stately galley, <br />Hear those mournful melodies; <br /> <br />Till my soul is full of longing <br />For the secret of the sea, <br />And the heart of the great ocean <br />Sends a thrilling pulse through me.<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/by-the-seaside-the-secret-of-the-sea/
