Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By Elizabeth Stuart PhelpsWard930 Gloucester Harbor
O
And one from every silent sail.
One cloud the averted heavens wear,
A soft mask, thin and frail.
And yellow was the weary drouth.
The reef her warning finger puts
Upon the harbor’s mouth.
She holds by night, she holds by day.
Ask, if you will: no answer makes
The sombre, guarded bay.
Like a brute life, sleeps patiently.
The headlights nod across the cliff,
The fog blows out to sea.
No color on the helpless sky;
Across the beach—a safe, small sound—
The grass-hid crickets cry.
Of home-bound boats grate low and sweet.
O happy lights! O watching eyes!
Leap out the sound to greet.
Gather and cherish while ye may.
The morrow knoweth God. Ye know
Your own are yours to-day.
The cries of hungry children start.
There breaks in every Gloucester wave
A widowed woman’s heart.