High on the mound the ivied arbour stood, A dome of straw upheld on rustic wood: Hidden in fern the steps of the ascent, Whereby unto the southern front we went, And from the dark plantation climbing free, Over a valley look’d out on the sea. That sea is ever bright and blue, the sky Serene and blue, and ever white ships lie High on the horizon steadfast in full sail, Or nearer in the roads pass within hail Of naked brigs and barques that windbound ride At their taut cables heading to the tide. There many an hour I have sat to watch; nay, now The brazen disk is cold against my brow, And in my sight a circle of the sea Enlarged to swiftness, where the salt waves flee, And ships in stately motion pass so near That what I see is speaking to my ear: I hear the waves dash and the tackle strain, The canvas flap, the rattle of the chain That runs out thro’ the hawse, the clank of the wind Winding the rusty cable inch by inch, Till half I wonder if they have no care, Those sailors, that my glass is brought to bear On all their doings, if I vex them not On every petty task of their rough lot Prying and spying, searching every craft From painted truck to gunnel, fore and aft,— Thro’ idle Sundays as I have watch’d them lean Long hours upon the rail, or neath its screen Prone on the deck to lie outstretch’d at length, Sunk in renewal of their wearied strength. But what a feast of joy to me, if some Fast-sailing frigate to the Channel come Back’d here her topsail, or brought gently up Let from her bow the splashing anchor drop, By faint contrary wind stay’d in her cruise, The _Phaethon_ or dancing _Arethuse_, Or some immense three-decker of the line, Romantic as the tale of Troy divine; Ere yet our iron age had doom’d to fall The towering freeboard of the wooden wall, And for the engines of a mightier Mars Clipp’d their wide wings, and dock’d their soaring spars. The gale that in their tackle sang, the wave That neath their gilded galleries dasht so brave Lost then their merriment, nor look to play With the heavy-hearted monsters of to-day.