Not pangs of grief for lenient time too keen,
Grief that devouring waves had caused, or guilt
Which they had witnessed--sway the man who built
This homestead, placed where nothing could be seen,
Nought heard of ocean, troubled or serene?
A tired Ship-soldier on paternal land,
That o'er the channel holds august command,
The dwelling raised,--a veteran Marine;
Who, in disgust, turned from the neighbouring sea
To shun the memory of a listless life
That hung between two callings. May no strife
More hurtful here beset him, doomed though free,
Self-doom'd, to worse inaction, till his eye
Shrink from the daily sight of earth and sky!
Design, coding, and editing: Copyright © 1998 by James M. Garrett. All rights reserved.