THE SWIMMER 



With short, sharp, violent lights made vivid, 

 To the southward far as the sight can 

 roam ; 

 Only the swirl of the surges livid, 



The seas that climb and the surfs that 

 comb. 

 Only the crag and the cliff to nor' ward. 

 And the rocks receding, and reefs flung 



forward. 

 And waifs wreck'd seaward and wasted shore- 

 ward 

 On shallows sheeted with flaming foam. 



A grim, grey coast and a seaboard ghastly. 



And shores trod seldom by feet of men — 



Where the batter'd hull and the broken mast 



lie, 



They have lain embedded these long years 



ten. 



Love ! when we wander'd here together. 



Hand in hand through the sparkling weather, 



From the heights and hollows of fern and 



heather, 



God surely loved us a little then. 



179 



