God be with thee, gladsome Ocean! <br />How gladly greet I thee once more! <br />Ships and waves, and ceaseless motion, <br />And men rejoicing on thy shore. <br /> <br />Dissuading spake the mild physician, <br />'Those briny waves for thee are death!' <br />But my soul fulfilled her mission, <br />And lo! I breathe untroubled breath! <br /> <br />Fashion's pining sons and daughters, <br />That seek the crowd they seem to fly, <br />Trembling they approach thy waters; <br />And what cares Nature, if they die? <br /> <br />Me a thousand hopes and pleasures, <br />A thousand recollections bland, <br />Thoughts sublime, and stately measures, <br />Revisit on thy echoing stand: <br /> <br />Dreams (the soul herself forsaking), <br />Tearful raptures, boyish mirth; <br />Silent adorations, making <br />A blessed shadow of this Earth! <br /> <br />O ye hopes, that stir within me, <br />Health comes with you from above! <br />God is with me, God is in me! <br />I cannot die, if Life be Love.<br /><br />Samuel Taylor Coleridge<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-revisiting-the-sea-shore-after-long-absence-under-strong-medical-recommendation-not-to-bathe/
