Homesick by the Sea

I SAW great ships leap to the sea,
Magic on their prows!
I saw there was no ship for me,
Homesick for hemlock-boughs.

For my masts on the mountain-side
Rise where whispering
Winds move over their swaying tide —
There they rock and sing;

For my masts on the mountain-height
Spread green silken sails
Whose netted shadows drip with light
Within the dusky trails;

And there my mountain faithfulness,
As though deep sea were there,
Above the valley voyages,
An eagle through the air.

Far heart-heard mountain-murmur, cease!
The ships are swift and proud!
My heart is crying for release.
As a wave cries aloud,

The wave that cries my name to tell
Of singing wild sea-birds
And flocks of foam. Bid me farewell,
My haughty hemlock herds;

For I have seen the leaping ships!
Fade and set me free,
Far flowers, to pluck, where a white prow
The blue flower of the sea!