I sat on the shore of the ocean
And gazed on the waters below,
As they played in their unceasing motion
Round the sails in their wild mystic glow.

As mine eyes o'er the vast main were roaming
My heart swelled with anguish and pain,
For I thought of the path, now so foaming,
How it never could traced be again.

The breeze was so quietly lulling,
The waves broke the sun's dying ray,
But I thought of the treacherous rolling,
When the furious gale held its sway.

And I feared for the sails that were kissing
The waves as they gaily danced by;
For I knew that tho' fond the caressing,
They were all doomed perhaps soon to die.

I bethought me of many a vessel,
Saw it leaping from wavelet to wave,
As it tried with the ocean to wrestle,
And found in the waters a grave.

Thus I sat on the shore of the ocean,
The waters were hushed as in sleep,
But my heart trembled, sad with emotion,
As I gazed on the treacherous deep.