I SHOULD like to dwell where the deep blue sea <br />Rock'd to and fro as tranquilly, <br />As if it were willing the halcyon's nest <br />Should shelter through summer its beautiful guest. <br />When a plaining murmur like that of a song, <br />And a silvery line come the waves along: <br />Now bathing—now leaving the gentle shore, <br />Where shining sea-shells lay scattered o'er. <br /> <br />And children wandering along the strand, <br />With the eager eye and the busy hand, <br />Heaping the pebbles and green sea-weed, <br />Like treasures laid up for a time of need. <br />Or tempting the waves with their daring feet, <br />To launch, perhaps, some tiny fleet: <br />Mimicking those which bear afar <br />The wealth of trade—and the strength of war. <br /> <br />I should love, when the sun-set reddened the foam, <br />To watch the fisherman's boat come home, <br />With his well-filled net and glittering spoil: <br />Well has the noon-tide repaid its toil. <br />While the ships that lie in the distance away <br />Catch on their canvass the crimsoning ray; <br />Like fairy ships in the tales of old, <br />When the sails they spread were purple and gold. <br /> <br />Then the deep delight of the starry night, <br />With its shadowy depths and dreamy light: <br />When far away spreads the boundless sea, <br />As if it imaged infinity. <br />Let me hear the winds go singing by, <br />Lulling the waves with their melody: <br />While the moon like a mother watches their sleep, <br />And I ask no home but beside the deep.<br /><br />Letitia Elizabeth Landon<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-sea-shore/
