SUBLIME is thy prospect, thou proud-rolling Ocean, <br />And Fancy surveys thee with solemn delight; <br />When thy mountainous billows are wild in commotion, <br />And the tempest is roused by the spirits of night ! <br /> <br />When the moon-beams thro' winter-clouds faintly appearing, <br />At intervals gleam on the dark-swelling wave; <br />And the mariner, dubious, now hoping, now fearing, <br />May hear the stern Genius of hurricanes rave ! <br /> <br />But now, when thine anger has long been subsiding, <br />And the tempest has folded the might of its wing; <br />How clear is thy surface, in loveliness gliding, <br />For April has opened the portals of spring ! <br /> <br />Now soft on thy bosom the orient is beaming, <br />And tremulous breezes are waving thy breast; <br />On thy mirror the clouds and the shadows are streaming, <br />And morning and glory the picture have drest ! <br /> <br />No gale but the balmy Favonian is blowing, <br />In coral-caves resting, the winds are asleep; <br />And, rich in the sun-beam, yon pendants are glowing, <br />That tinge with their colours the silvery deep ! <br /> <br />Yet smile or be dreadful, thou still-changing Ocean, <br />Tremendous or lovely, resistless or still; <br />I view thee adoring, with hallow'd emotion, <br />The Power that can hush or arouse thee at will !<br /><br />Felicia Dorothea Hemans<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sea-piece/
