Song of the Sea-wind

When the sun sets over the long blue wave I spring from my couch of rest, And I hurtle and boom over leagues of foam That toss in the weltering west, I pipe a hymn to the headlands high, My comrades forevermore, And I chase the tricksy curls of foam O'er the glimmering sandy shore. The moon is my friend on clear, white nights When I ripple her silver way, And whistle blithely about the rocks Like an elfin thing at play; But anon I ravin with cloud and mist And wail 'neath a curdled sky, When the reef snarls yon like a questing beast, And the frightened ships go by. I scatter the dawn across the sea Like wine of amber flung From a crystal goblet all far and fine Where the morning star is hung; I blow from east and I blow from west Wherever my longing be- The wind of the land is a hindered thing But the ocean wind is free!