VERSES Written while sailing from Vancouver to Seattle.

I’ve seen the forest and mountains, I’ve seen the far stretching plain, But oh for a whiff of the briny sea, And a journey across the main! Oh, then does my soul find its pleasure, Akin to my childhood joy, For my home was close to the seashore, And I lived with the fjord as a boy. Its unbounded freedom and greatness Created a love in my soul, And never I sail o’er the surging sea, But liberty’s voice does me call. Its mystery, aye, and its music Have followed me all the way, And borne—as they are—by the foaming wave, They blend in an unsung lay. And all day long do I listen, And all day long do I look To freedom which never was nation’s, To songs that were never in book.