And wishes his life, like the grass at his feet, May be pure at its "passing away.” Then a song and a cheer for the bonnie green stack, For the pitchers, and rakers, and merry hay-makers, ELIZA COOK. LXIII. LOOKING FOR THE SUN. HEAVEN be praised! I have once more seen the sun. Knowing that the sun would appear to-day, everybody was filled with expectation, and hastened off, after breakfast, to some favorite spot where it was thought he might be seen. Some went in the right direction, and were gratified; others went in the wrong direction, and were disappointed. Knorr and others of the officers climbed the hills above Etah. Charley limbered up his rheumatic old legs, and tried to get a view from the north side of the harbor, forgetting that the mountains intervened. 2. Harris and Heywood climbed to the top of the hill behind the harbor, and the former shook his Odd Fellow's flag in the sun's very face. The cook was troubled because he did not have a look at "de blessed sun; but he could not gratify his wish without going upon the land; and this he could no more be induced to do, than the mountain could be persuaded to come to Mahomet. He will probably have to wait, until the sun steals over the hills into the harbor, which will be at least twelve days. 3. My own share in the day's excitement has been equal to the rest of them. Accompanied by Dodge and Jensen, I set out, at an early hour, toward a point on the north side of the bay, from which I could command a view of the southern horizon. We had much difficulty in reaching our destination. The open water came nearly a mile within the point for which we were bound, and it was no easy task to pick our way along the sloping drifts of the ice-foot. The temperature was very low, and the wind, blowing quite freshly, brought the drifting snow down from the mountains, and rattled it about us rather sharply. But we were amply repaid by the view which was spread out before us. 4. An open sea lay at our feet and stretched far away to the front and right of us, as we faced the south. Numerous bergs were dotted over it, but otherwise, it was mainly free from ice. Its surface was much agitated by the winds, which kept it from freezing, and the waves were dancing in the cold air as if in very mockery of the winter. It was, indeed, a vast bubbling caldron, seething and foaming, and emitting vapors. 5. The light, curling streams of "frost smoke" which rose over it sailed away on the wind toward the southwest, and there mingled with a dark mist-bank. Little streams of young ice, as if struggling to bind the waves, rattled and crackled over the restless waters. To the left, the lofty coast mountains stood boldly up in the bright air, and near Cape Alexander the glacier peeped ✦ from between them, coming down the valley with a gentle slope. 6. The bold front of Crystal Palace Cliffs cut sharply against this line of whiteness, and the dark, gloomy walls of Cape Alexander rose squarely from the sea. Upon the crests of the silent hills, and over the white-capped cape, light clouds lazily floated, and through these the sun was pouring a stream of golden fire, and the whole southern heavens were ablaze with the splendor of the coming day. 7. The point of Cape Alexander lay directly south of us, and the sun would appear from behind it at exactly the meridian hour, rolling along the horizon, with only half its disk above the line of waters. We awaited the approaching moment with much eagerness. Presently, a ray of light burst through the soft mist-clouds which lay off to the right of us, opposite the cape, blending them into a purple sea, and glistening upon the silvery summits of the tall icebergs, which pierced the vapory cloak as if to catch the coming warmth. 8. The ray approached us, nearer and nearer; the purple sea widened; the glittering spires multiplied, as one after another they burst in quick succession into the blaze of day; and, as this marvelous change came over the face of the sea, we felt that the shadow of the cape was the shadow of the night, and that the night was passing away. Soon, the dark red cliffs behind us glowed with a warm coloring; the hills and the mountains stood. forth in their new robes of resplendent brightness, and the tumbling waves melted away from their angry harshness, and laughed in the sunshine. 9. Now, the line of the shadow was in sight. "There it is, upon the point!" cried Jensen. "There it is, upon the ice-foot!" answered Dodge. There, at our feet, lay a sheet of sparkling gems, and the sun burst broadly in our faces. Off went our caps with a simultaneous impulse, and we hailed this long-lost wanderer of the heavens, with loud demonstrations of joy. 10. The friend of all hopeful associations had come back again to put a new glow into our hearts. He had returned, after an absence of one hundred and twenty-six days, to revive a slumbering world; and as I looked upon his face again, after this long interval, I did not wonder that there should be men to bow the knee and worship him, and proclaim him, "The eye of God." 11. The parent of light and life everywhere, he is the same within these solitudes. The germ awaits him here, as in the Orient; but there, it rests only through the short hours of a summer night; while here it reposes for months under a sheet of snows. But after awhile the bright sun will tear this sheet asunder, and will tumble it in gushing fountains to the sea, and will kiss the cold earth, and give it warmth and life. 12. The flowers will bud and bloom, and will turn their tiny faces smilingly and gratefully up to him, as he wanders over these ancient hills in the long summer. The very glaciers will weep tears of joy at his coming. The ice will loose its iron grip upon the waters, and will let the wild waves play in freedom. 13. The reindeer will skip gleefully over the mountains to welcome his return, and will look longingly to him for the green pastures. The sea-fowls, knowing that he will give them a resting-place for their feet on the rocky islands, will come to seek the moss-beds which he spreads for their nests; and the sparrows will come on his life-giving rays, and will sing their love songs through the endless day. — Dr. I. I. Hayes. LXIV. MY SHIP. OWN to the wharves, as the sun goes down, DOWN And the daylight's tumult and dust and din Are dying away in the busy town, I go to see if my ship comes in. 2. I gaze far over the quiet sea, Rosy with sunset, like mellow wine, "Have you seen my beautiful ship come in?" 4. "Whence does she come?" they ask of me; "Who is her master, and what her name?" And they smile upon me, pityingly, When my answer is ever and ever the same. 5. Oh, mine was a vessel of strength and truth, Her sails were white as a young lamb's fleece, 6. And, like all beloved and beauteous things, 7. Carrying with her a precious freight, 8. Watch, from the earliest morning light, 9. But she comes not yet, she will never come To gladden my eyes and my spirit more; 10. Knowing that tempest, and time, and storm Have wrecked and shattered my beauteous bark; Rank sea-weeds cover her wasting form, And her sails are tattered and stained and dark. |