Part 14 (1/2)

SIXTH GRADE

BREAK, BREAK, BREAK.

Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!

And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.

Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!

Oh, well for the sailor lad, That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately s.h.i.+ps go on To their haven under the hill; But oh, for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break, At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!

But the tender grace of a day that is dead Will never come back to me.

--_Alfred, Lord Tennyson._

COLUMBUS--WESTWARD.[18]

Behind him lay the gray Azores, Behind the Gates of Hercules; Before him not the ghost of sh.o.r.es, Before him only sh.o.r.eless seas.

The good mate said: ”Now we must pray, For lo, the very stars are gone.

Brave Adm'r'l speak; what shall I say?”

”Why say: 'Sail on! sail on! sail on!'”

”My men grow mutinous day by day; My men grow ghastly wan and weak.”

The stout mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.

”What shall I say, brave Adm'r'l, say, If we sight naught but seas at dawn?”

”Why you shall say at break of day: 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! sail on!'”

They sailed and sailed, as the winds might blow, Until at last the blanched mate said: ”Why, not even G.o.d would know Should I and all my men fall dead.

These very winds forget their way, For G.o.d from these dread seas is gone.

Now speak, brave Adm'r'l; speak and say”-- He said: ”Sail on! sail on! sail on!”

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: ”This mad sea shows its teeth to-night.

He curls his lips, he lies in wait, With lifted teeth, as if to bite!

Brave Adm'r'l, say but one good word; What shall we do when hope is gone?”

The words leapt as a leaping sword: ”Sail on! sail on! sail on! sail on!”

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, And peered through darkness. Ah, that night Of all dark nights! And then a speck-- A light! A light! A light! A light!

It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!

It grew to be Time's burst of dawn.