Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SOUND OF THE SEA, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SOUND OF THE SEA, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thou art sounding on, thou mighty sea!
Last Line: So may our hearts repose.
Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea
Subject(s): Sea; Ocean


THOU art sounding on, thou mighty sea!
Forever and the same;
The ancient rocks yet ring to thee --
Those thunders naught can tame.

Oh! many a glorious voice is gone
From the rich bowers of earth,
And hushed is many a lovely one
Of mournfulness or mirth.

The Dorian flute that sighed of yore
Along the wave, is still;
The harp of Judah peals no more
On Zion's awful hill.

The Memnon's lyre hath lost the chord
That breathed the mystic tone;
And the songs at Rome's high triumph poured,
Are with her eagles flown.

And mute the Moorish horn that rang
O'er stream and mountain free;
And the hymn the leagued Crusaders sang
Hath died in Galilee.

But thou art swelling on, thou deep!
Through many an olden clime,
Thy billowy anthem, ne'er to sleep
Until the close of time.

Thou liftest up thy solemn voice
To every wind and sky,
And all our earth's green shores rejoice
In that one harmony.

It fills the noontide's calm profound,
The sunset's heaven of gold;
And the still midnight hears the sound,
Even as first it rolled.

Let there be silence, deep and strange,
Where sceptred cities rose!
Thou speakest of One who doth not change --
So may our hearts repose.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net