Image courtesy of the Library of Congress
SEE the wave where it falls to the deep,
And the spray of the downpouring steep
Is outflung in a rain o’er the side !
We are filled with its splendor and pride,
We are mad with its pitiless power.
Ever-remembered, marvellous hour !
In view of the flooding waters yonder
Over our weakness must we ponder.
Endless, unwavering sweeps the tide,
Clouded with whiteness, over the side
Of the lofty wall that is ceaseless worn
By the mighty swells, and thus was torn
The seething course where the surges leap
With maddest bound to the lower deep
Between the great cliffs that, wide asunder,
Echo back the roar of their thunder.
With patient labor we strive at length
To find us aid in a tireless strength ;
We conquer oft through marvellous feat.
Yet must we feel in the full conceit
Of our haughty thought and boasting words
That the forces dread have feeble lords,
When long we gaze at the great world’s wonder,
Our hearts all athrob with its thunder !
Source: Robert S. Jenkins. Poems of the New Century, First Series: Minor Lyric and Narrative Poems. Toronto: William Briggs, 1903