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Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889

Apart

By John James Piatt (1835–1917)

AT sea are tossing ships;

On shore are dreaming shells,

And the waiting heart and the loving lips,

Blossoms and bridal bells.

At sea are sails agleam;

On shore are longing eyes,

And the far horizon’s haunting dream

Of ships that sail the skies.

At sea are masts that rise

Like spectres from the deep;

On shore are the ghosts of drowning cries

That cross the waves of sleep.

At sea are wrecks astrand;

On shore are shells that moan,

Old anchors buried in barren sand,

Sea-mist and dreams alone.