Here in mid-voyage, tossed on high seas and blown
By adverse winds that fray the very rigging;
Sea-drenched and breathless, with hardly time to give
A glance of recognition as we go
From pumps to hatchways, deck to mizen-top,
In our inflexible will to keep afloat,
There comes a lull; and though we cannot meet
As on that day when, in the glow of noon,
Our vessel slumbering on the harbour swell,
We challenged one another eye to eye,
Yet here, on watch, from my heart's heart I send
You deeper greeting, fellow-voyager:
The deep heart's confidence: a glow of love
Which all this boisterous wind but fans the clearer,
Knowing that — whether the watery depths engulph us,
Or whether at last we reach the fortunate isles —
All other ropes may break, our cables part,
Ay and the vessel itself be split in sunder,
But the bright cobweb beam that links our souls
Taut and unbreakable will yet remain
Against the shock and weight of the whole sea.