My Ships
If all the ships I have at sea Should come a-sailing home to me,
From sunny lands, and lands of cold,
Ah well! the harbor could not hold So many sails as there would be If all my ships came in from sea.
If half my ships came home from sea,
And brought their precious freight to me,
Ah, well!
I should have wealth as great As any king who sits in state,
So rich the treasures that would be In half my ships now at sea.
If just one ship I have at sea Should come a-sailing home to me,
Ah well! the storm clouds then might frown,
For if the others all went down Still rich and proud and glad I’d be,
If that one ship came back to me.
If that one ship were down at sea,
And all the others came to me,
Weighed down with gems and wealth untold,
With glory, honor, riches, gold,
The poorest soul on earth I’d be If that one ship came not to me.
O skies be calm!
O winds blow free— Blow all my ships safe home to me.
But if thou sendest some awrack To never more come sailing back,
Send any—all that skim the sea— But bring my love-ship home to me.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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An infant wailing in nameless fear; A shadow, perchance, in the quiet room, Or the hum of an insect flying near, Or the screech-owl's cry, in the outer gloom
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Let no man pray that he know not sorrow, Let no soul ask to be free from pain, For the gall of to-day is the sweet of to-morrow, And the moment's loss is the lifetime's gain
The Ah Goo Tongue
The queerest languages known to man, Sanscrit, Hebrew, Hindoostan,
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I saw them sitting in the shade; The long green vines hung over, But could not hide the gold-haired And Earl, my dark-eyed lover