Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Oceanica: Vol. XXXI. 1876–79.
On a Rock in the Atlantic
By Bryan Waller Procter (1787–1874)H
From age to age, earth and the mighty sea
Fight for dominion. Here—where none can see,
None hear, none aid,—when autumn tempests lower,
And the wild winds strike loud their stormy drums,
Forth from his caves the blown Atlantic comes,
Scattering his foaming fury, night by night,
’Gainst the scarred basalt’s all-enduring might.
Stern foes! who fight for lords ye never saw,
Not vain your noise, if from the unending strife
A peaceful lesson clamorous man would draw,
And thereby learn to sheathe his useless knife;
Or must ye both still set life against life,
Obeying thus some wise but unknown law?