John G. C. Brainard (1796–1828)

THE BREATH of air that stirs the harp’s soft string,

Floats on to join the whirlwind and the storm;

The drops of dew exhaled from flowers of spring,

Rise and assume the tempest’s threatening form;

The first mild beam of morning’s glorious sun,

Ere night, is sporting in the lightning’s flash;

And the smooth stream, that flows in quiet on,

Moves but to aid the overwhelming dash

That wave and wind can muster, when the might

Of earth, and air, and sea, and sky unite.

So science whisper’d in thy charmed ear,

And radiant learning beckon’d thee away.

The breeze was music to thee, and the clear

Beam of thy morning promised a bright day.

And they have wreck’d thee!—But there is a shore

Where storms are hush’d, where tempests never rage;

Where angry skies and blackening seas, no more

With gusty strength their roaring warfare wage.

By thee its peaceful margent shall be trod—

Thy home is Heaven, and thy friend is God.