Going Down in Ships

Going down to sea in ships Is a glorious thing, Where up and over the rolling waves The sea-birds wing; Oh, there’s nothing more to my heart’s desire Than a ship that plows Head-on down through marching seas, With streaming bows: Would you hear the song of the viewless winds As they walk the sky? Come down to sea when the storm is on And the men stand by. Would you see the sun as it walked abroad On God’s First Day? Then come where dawn makes sea and sky A gold causeway. Oh, it’s bend the sails on the criss-cross yards, For the day dies far, And up a windless space of dusk Climbs the evening star.... Now there’s gulf on foaming gulf of stars That lean so clear That it seems the bastions of heaven Are bright and near, And that, any moment, the topmost sky May froth and swim With an incredible bivouac Of seraphim.... O wide-flung dawn, O mighty day And set of sun! O all you climbing stars of God, Oh, lead me on!...