Ralph Waldo Emerson, comp. (1803–1882). Parnassus: An Anthology of Poetry. 1880.
From Lines on Leaving EuropeNathaniel Parker Willis (1806–1867)
B
Fling out your field of azure blue;
Let star and stripe be westward cast,
And point as Freedom’s eagle flew!
Strain home! O lithe and quivering spars!
Point home, my country’s flag of stars!
*****
My mother, in thy prayer to-night
There come new words and warmer tears;
On long, long darkness breaks the light,
Comes home the loved, the lost for years.
Sleep safe, O wave-worn mariner!
Fear not to-night, or storm or sea:
The ear of Heaven bends low to her!
He comes to shore who sails with me.
The wind-tossed spider needs no token
How stands the tree when lightnings blaze;
And, by a thread from heaven unbroken,
I know my mother lives and prays.