SEAWEEDS 



ik4o\v a. cliff, where mused a little maid, 



It struck. Its voice in thunder cried, 'IVnvare.' 



But, to d(4i<!:ht her, instantl}^ displayed 



A fount of showering diamonds in the air. 



.... The wave passed on; 

 , Touching each shore with silver-sandled feet, 

 But tossed, in flying, in the sun which shone, 

 A handful, to her lap, of sea blooms sweet. 



More delicate than forms that frost doth weave 

 On window panes are Ocean's filmy brood; 

 Remembering the awfiil home they leave, • 

 Their hues to that dim underworld subdued. 



Fair spread on pages white, I saw arrayed 



These fairy children of a sire so stern; 



Their beauty chamied me ; w^iile the little maid 



Spoke of her new-found love with cheeks which burn. 



'So grand, so terrible, how could I know 

 He cared for these?' she faltered, 'darlings dear! 

 That his great heart could nurture them and glow 

 With such a love beneath such looks severe? ' 



Lik(! God, the Ocean, too, the least can heed, 

 Yearn in a moon-led quest to farthest shores, 

 And fondle in delight its smallest weed, 

 Yet look to Him it mirrors and adores." 



J. G. Appletox. 

 146 



