| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | Longing | | By Anna Charlotte (Lynch) Botta (1815–1891) |
| | | O TROUBLED sea, that longest evermore | |
| From out thy cold and sunless depths to rise | |
| To the bright orb that draws thee towards the skies, | |
| And beat’st thy breast against the unyielding shore, | |
| In the vain struggle to unloose the bands | 5 |
| That bind thee down to earth; in thy despair, | |
| With sullen roar now leaping high in air, | |
| Now moaning, sobbing on the insatiate sands; | |
| Type of the soul art thou; she strives like thee, | |
| By time and circumstance and law bound down, | 10 |
| She beats against the shores of the unknown, | |
| Wrestles with unseen force, doubt, mystery, | |
| And longs forever for the goal afar | |
| That shines and still retreats, like a receding star. | | | | |
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