POEMS

COMPOSED OR SUGGESTED DURING A TOUR IN THE SUMMER OF 1833

XVII. ISLE OF MAN

          A YOUTH too certain of his power to wade
          On the smooth bottom of this clear bright sea,
          To sight so shallow, with a bather's glee
          Leapt from this rock, and but for timely aid
          He, by the alluring element betrayed,
          Had perished. Then might Sea-nymphs (and with sighs
          Of self-reproach) have chanted elegies
          Bewailing his sad fate, when he was laid
          In peaceful earth: for, doubtless, he was frank,
          Utterly in himself devoid of guile;                         10
          Knew not the double-dealing of a smile;
          Nor aught that makes men's promises a blank,
          Or deadly snare: and He survives to bless
          The Power that saved him in his strange distress.

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