________________________________________________
Title: The Light-Keeper
Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln [
More Titles by Lincoln]
For years I've seen the frothy lines go thund'rin' down the shore;
For years the surge has tossed its kelp and wrack about my door;
I've heard the sea-wind sing its song in whispers 'round the place,
And fought it when it flung the sand, like needles, in my face.
I've seen the sun-rays turn the roof ter blist'rin', tarry coal;
I've seen the ice-drift clog the bay from foamin' shoal ter shoal;
I've faced the winter's snow and sleet, I've felt the summer's shower,
But every night I've lit the lamp up yonder in the tower.
I've seen the sunset flood the earth with streams of rosy light,
And every foot of sea-line specked with twinklin' sails of white;
I've woke ter find the sky a mess of scud and smoky wreath,
A blind wind-devil overhead and hell let loose beneath.
And then ter watch the rollers pound on ledges, bars and rips,
And pray fer them that go, O Lord, down ter the sea in ships!
Ter see the lamp, when darkness comes, throw out its shinin' track,
And think of that one gleamin' speck in all the world of black.
And often, through a night like that, I've waited fer the day
That broke and showed a lonesome sea, a sky all cold and gray;
And, may be, on the spit below, where sea-gulls whirl and screech,
I've seen a somethin' stretched among the fresh weed on the beach;
A draggled, frozen somethin', in the ocean's tangled scum,
That meant a woman waitin' fer a man who'd never come;
And all the drop of comfort in my sorrer I could git
Was this: "I done my best ter save; thank God, the lamp was lit."
And there's lots of comfort, really, to a strugglin' mortal's breast
In the sayin', if it's truthful, of "I done my level best";
It seems ter me that's all there is: jest do your duty right,
No matter if yer rule a land or if yer tend a light.
My lot is humble, but I've kept that lamp a-burnin' clear,
And so, I reckon, when I die I'll know which course ter steer;
The waves may roar around me and the darkness hide the view,
But the lights'll mark the channel and the Lord'll tow me through.
[The end]
Joseph Crosby Lincoln's poem: Light-Keeper
________________________________________________
GO TO TOP OF SCREEN
