| |
| DOWN in the bleak December bay | |
| The ghostly vessel stands away; | |
| Her spars and halyards white with ice, | |
| Under the dark December skies. | |
| A hundred souls, in company, | 5 |
| Have left the vessel pensively,— | |
| Have touched the frosty desert there, | |
| And touched it with the knees of prayer. | |
| And now the day begins to dip, | |
| The night begins to lower | 10 |
| Over the bay, and over the ship | |
| Mayflower. | |
| |
| Neither the desert nor the sea | |
| Imposes rites: their prayers are free; | |
| Danger and toil the wild imposes, | 15 |
| And thorns must grow before the roses. | |
| And who are these?—and what distress | |
| The savage-acred wilderness | |
| On mother, maid, and child, may bring, | |
| Beseems them for a fearful thing; | 20 |
| For now the day begins to dip, | |
| The night begins to lower | |
| Over the bay, and over the ship | |
| Mayflower. | |
| |
| But Carver leads (in heart and health | 25 |
| A hero of the commonwealth) | |
| The axes that the camp requires, | |
| To build the lodge and heap the fires. | |
| And Standish from his warlike store | |
| Arrays his men along the shore, | 30 |
| Distributes weapons resonant, | |
| And dons his harness militant; | |
| For now the day begins to dip, | |
| The night begins to lower | |
| Over the bay, and over the ship | 35 |
| Mayflower; | |
| |
| And Rose, his wife, unlocks a chest— | |
| She sees a Book, in vellum drest, | |
| She drops a tear and kisses the tome, | |
| Thinking of England and of home: | 40 |
| Might they—the Pilgrims, there and then | |
| Ordained to do the work of men— | |
| Have seen, in visions of the air, | |
| While pillowed on the breast of prayer | |
| (When now the day began to dip, | 45 |
| The night began to lower | |
| Over the bay, and over the ship | |
| Mayflower), | |
| |
| The Canaan of their wilderness | |
| A boundless empire of success; | 50 |
| And seen the years of future nights | |
| Jewelled with myriad household lights; | |
| And seen the honey fill the hive; | |
| And seen a thousand ships arrive; | |
| And heard the wheels of travel go; | 55 |
| It would have cheered a thought of woe. | |
| When now the day began to dip, | |
| The night began to lower | |
| Over the bay, and over the ship | |
| Mayflower. | 60 |
| |
