Skilled mariner, and counted sane and wise,
That was a curious thing which chanced to me,
So good a sailor on so fair a sea.
With favouring winds and blue unshadowed skies,
Led by the faithful beacon of Love’s eyes,
Past reef and shoal, my life-boat bounded free
And fearless of all changes that might be
Under calm waves, where many a sunk rock lies.
A golden dawn; yet suddenly my barque
Strained at the sails, as in a cyclone’s blast;
And battled with an unseen current’s force,
For we had entered when the night was dark
That old tempestuous Gulf Stream of the Past.
But for love’s eyes, I had not kept the course.