Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891.
“As happy dwellers by the sea-side hear”Celia (Laighton) Thaxter (1835–1894)
A
In every pause the sea’s mysterious sound,
The infinite murmur, solemn and profound,
Incessant, filling all the atmosphere,
Even so I hear you, for you do surround
My newly-waking life, and break for aye
About the viewless shores, till they resound
With echoes of God’s greatness night and day.
Refreshed and glad I feel the full flood-tide
Fill every inlet of my waiting soul,
Long-striving, eager hope, beyond control,
For help and strength at last is satisfied,
And you exalt me, like the sounding sea,
With ceaseless whispers of eternity.