Classic Poem

I KNEW him not; mine eye had never gazed
Upon his thoughtful brow:
His name, so musical, I scarce had heard
To recognize till now.

But neither years nor space will now erase
From out my heart his name;
For with his sister's it will e'er be linked,
And share her deathless fame.

Since both have found, when homeward tending, rest
Beneath the foamy wave,
Whereon no marble monument may stand
To mark their watery grave.

O Sea! wert thou not satisfied to take
The sister, good and wise,
And bear her with her loved ones to their home
Above the starry skies?

Why shouldst thou rend again those mourning hearts,
O dark and treacherous Sea?
Why bid those hearts forevermore be sad,
Ocean, at sight of thee?

Hush! gentle voices to my soul are calling,
And, whispering, they tell,
“The ocean is the Lord's; it doth his bidding:
Repine not; all is well.”

Beyond the confines of terrestrial regions,
There is a better shore:
God's love unfathomed, as the only sea,
Flows round it evermore.

There parted friends shall meet, and Death's dark wing—
Like sea-bird's screaming shrill—
Shall never flap above the drowning forms
Of friends beloved still.

God speed the dawning of that glorious day,
When, sin-freed, we shall be
Where tears are wiped from every grief-dimmed eye,
And where is no more sea!