Sail forth into the sea, O ship! Through wind and wave right onward steer! The moistened eye, the trembling lip, Are not the signs of doubt or fear! Sail forth into the sea of life, O gentle, loving, trusting wife, And safe from all adversity Upon the bosom of that sea Thy comings and thy goings be! For gentleness, and love, and trust, Prevail o'er angry wave and gust. Thou too, sail on, O ship of state! Sail on, O UNION, strong and great! Humanity, with all its fears, With all its hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate! We know what master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast and sail and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge, and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! Fear not each sudden sound and shock! 'Tis of the wave, and not the rock; 'Tis but the flapping of the sail And not a rent made by the gale! In spite of rock and tempest roar, In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee--are all with thee!" This noble ode leads the van of a small collection of poems called, "By the Seaside." A series of companion-pictures bear the name of, "By the Fireside." We may as well proceed with a few extracts from these. The following are from some verses on "The Lighthouse." "The mariner remembers when a child On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink; And, when returning from adventures wild, He saw it rise again on ocean's brink. Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same Year after year, thro'all the silent night Burns on for evermore that quenchless flame, Shines on that inextinguishable light! The startled waves leap over it; _the storm Smotes it with all the scourges of the rain_, And steadily against its solid form Press the great shoulders of the hurricane." This is bold and felicitous: the following, to "The Twilight," is in a more tender strain. The first verse we cannot quote: we suspect there is some misprint in our copy. Mr Longfellow could not have written these lines-- "And like the wings of sea-birds Flash the _white caps_ of the sea." Whether women's caps or men's nightcaps are alluded to, the image would be equally grotesque. The poem continues-- "But in the fisherman's cottage There shines a ruddier light, And a little face at the window Peers out into the night. Close, close it is pressed to the window, As if these childish eyes Were looking into the darkness To see some form arise. And a woman's waving shadow Is passing to and fro, Now rising to the ceiling, Now bowing and bending low.