IN A STORM
Reading edition
(To a Petrel)
All day long in the spindrift swinging, Bird of the sea! bird of the sea! How I would that I had thy winging— How I envy thee! How I would that I had thy spirit, So to careen, joyous to cry, Over the storm and never fear it! Into the night that hovers near it! Calm on a reeling sky! All day long, and the night, unresting! Ah! I believe thy every breath Means that Life's Best comes ever breasting Peril and pain and death!