Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Ellen Mackay HutchinsonCortissoz

1129 Sea-Way

THE TIDE slips up the silver sand,

Dark night and rosy day;

It brings sea-treasures to the land,

Then bears them all away.

On mighty shores from east to west

It wails, and gropes, and cannot rest.

O Tide, that still doth ebb and flow

Through night to golden day:—

Wit, learning, beauty, come and go,

Thou giv’st—thou tak’st away.

But some time, on some gracious shore,

Thou shalt lie still and ebb no more.