Helen M. Merrill (1866-1951). Where No Land Lies. William Wilfred Campbell, comp. 1913. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse

William Wilfred Campbell, comp. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse. 1913.

Where No Land Lies

By Helen M. Merrill (1866–1951)


WHERE no land lies,
Far out under the cloudy skies,
Alone, adrift,
A gleam of blue in a quiet rift,
The monotonous flow	5
Of waves which gather, and come, and go
On for ever.

Where no land lies,
Far off, a lonely sea-gull cries,
And clouds come down	10
On my hair all flowing, and cool, and brown,
And in my face
The slanting rain-drops drive apace,
Ever and ever.

Where no land lies,	15
And only the screaming sea-gull flies,
Alone, all day,
The dull sea waste is my chosen way;
In wind and rain
I dream mine olden dreams again,	20
Ever a part
Of the wilding sea’s lone, passionate heart;
In rain and wind
An idle ecstasy I find,
Where only the lonely sea-gull cries,	25
Where no land lies.