Classic Poem

For hours and hours to watch the wonderful sea
Is perfect peace—to lie upon the sand,
Sieve the clean crystals with a leisure hand,
And dream of things long ages hence to be—

Of things to be when we and all we know
Shall have been laid away in silent graves
As much forgotten as the broken waves
That murmured here a hundred years ago.

Thou visible Eternity, O Sea!
Thou emblem of the shoreless! On thy shore
The generations tread and are no more,
But none save God has ever trod on thee.

Thou art, like God, a refuge for the soul
Sick of uncertain creeds cramped rites demanding.
The peace thou givest passeth understanding—
Thy benediction breaks the world's control.

This Sabbath morning I have found in thee
A consolation I have needed long.
Thou hast revived me—thou hast made me strong—
Thou hast revealed God's Spirit unto me.