Two Points of View

Terrible waves ! • In fierce, unearthly chorus
Ye threaten the frail vessel to entomb ;
Still darker than the fearful storm-cloud o'er us,
Your yawning gulfs of death-portending gloom.

Beautiful waves ! In joyous freedom dancing,
Ye burst like living things upon the strand ;
Your snowy crests in the pure sunlight glancing,
Flash like a vision bright of fairy-land.

Oh, such are trials ! All Earth's sons and daughters
Feel in them awful messengers of ire,
More dark and dread than ocean's troubled waters ;
Death, and not Life, their horrors aye inspire.

Not so in Heaven ! .On that shore of gladness
Each past grief seems a blessing, and each pain
Hath lost the midnight hues of earthborn sadness, —
The once-dark waves gleam bright — each loss appears a gain.

Song.