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| WAR mid the ocean and the land! | |
| The battle-field Morwenna’s strand, | |
| Where rock and ridge the bulwark keep, | |
| The giant warders of the deep. | |
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| They come! and shall they not prevail,— | 5 |
| The seething surge, the gathering gale? | |
| They fling their wild flag to the breeze, | |
| The banner of a thousand seas. | |
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| They come, they mount, they charge in vain, | |
| Thus far, incalculable main! | 10 |
| No more! thine hosts have not o’erthrown | |
| The lichen on the barrier stone. | |
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| Have the rocks faith, that thus they stand, | |
| Unmoved, a grim and stately band, | |
| And look, like warriors tried and brave, | 15 |
| Stern, silent, reckless, o’er the wave? | |
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| Have the proud billows thought and life, | |
| To feel the glory of the strife, | |
| And trust, one day, in battle bold, | |
| To win the foeman’s haughty hold? | 20 |
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| Mark where they writhe with pride and shame, | |
| Fierce valor, and the zeal of fame! | |
| Hear how their din of madness raves, | |
| The baffled army of the waves! | |
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| Thy way, O God, is in the sea; | 25 |
| Thy paths where awful waters be; | |
| Thy spirit thrills the conscious stone: | |
| O Lord, thy footsteps are not known! | |
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