POETRY.
A TOAST.
SEA-CAPTAINS, and men of the ships,
You who carry the country's fame, You who sail where the red sun dips Or prison the utmost powers of flame And steam down Channel to Orient bays Broad and blue in a stronger light, London knows, and landsmen praise— Follow your vigils and watch your days ; Sea-captains, and men of the ships, A health to your vessels to-night !
Sea-captains, and men of the deep, Who ride with the English flag unfurled, Who share between you the boon of sleep Watch on watch, half round the world, Here's to the swoop of the Lizard gleam, The green-clad cone of the Rame ahead, Or a signal of " Passed " from the Start abeam— Fair runs to the harbours of which you dream; Here's luck, and no need for the lead !
Men and women and children at home Follow your track by the printed page, Listen at night to the wind and foam, Hold your letters as love's true gage ; ROugh little heads find Sunda Strait, Aden, Tacoma, or far Kowloon, Rio, or 'Frisco's Golden Gate ; Mark your passage and fix each date ;- Sea-captains, and men of the deep, Turn again homeward soon!
Think of home, when the still, soft sheen Of the big moon glows on the Indian bay; When the engines race, and the funnels lean To, right, to left, through the sluicing spray ; When pale Polaris her star-chain dips And new worlds glitter where grey dawn fl owned: Think of home, 0 men of the ships, Of those who name you with trembling lips, And hear, sea-captains, the echoes ring- " A health to the homeward-bound !"
WILFRID L. RANDELL.
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