Unrecorded

The splendors of a southern sun
  Caress the glowing sky;
O'er crested waves, the colors glance
  And gleaming, softly die.
A gentle calm from heaven falls
  And weaves a mystic spell;
A glowing grace that charms the soul—
  Whose glory none can tell.
Oh, warm sweet treasures of a sun
  Of endless fire and love;
Those dying embers are the flames
  From heavenly fires above.
Unto the water's edge they creep
  And bathe the seas in red;
Then die like shadows on the deep
  With glory cold and dead.
A ship—a lone, dark wanderer
  Upon the southern seas,
Speeds like a white-faced messenger
  Before the dying breeze.
Her masts are tipped with amethyst,
  A splendor all untold;
A crimson mantle wraps her round,
  Her sails are made of gold.
The light wind dies—she slowly drifts,
  Then stops—an idle thing;
While sunset clouds around her prow
  A dreamy grandeur fling.
And eyes upon her deck look forth
  With looks of longing pain;
A hundred sunsets they would give
  Dear home to see again.
But see! a shadow as of night
  Spreads o'er the crimson sky;
Like doomed and lifeless forms of earth
  The clouds in heaven lie.
A silence falls—the ship stands still,
  A fated thing of earth;
Then like a child of sin and wrong
  The storm is given birth.
Oh! struggle well ye gallant crew
  With storm and wind and wave;
For there are helpless women here
  And children, too, to save.
Quick—sailors do your duty well—
  And man the life-boats, too;
For soon the rocks will strand the ship,
  And pierce her through and through.
See! like a woman turned to stone
  A weeping mother stands;
Her heart seems like seems like some frozen thing—
  She wrings her trembling hands;
Within her arms she holds a child
  With frightened wond'ring eyes;
Below—the waters pitiless—
  Above—the angry skies.
Beside her stands a fair young girl
  With eyes that flash and quiver;
They are the only ones still left,
  These three that moan and shiver.
But soon a voice shouts back the words—
  Through all the deaf'ning roar:—
A strong hand grasps the trembling girl,
  "There's room for just one more."
"Stay, stay," she cries with whitened face
  "Why should I fear to die?
Oh, take this woman by my side,
  Nor stay to question why.
She has a dear one 'mongst your crew,
  She is a mother, too;
I am alone—I fear not death,
  If this you'll only do."
The sailor grasped the mother's hand,
  She turned and kissed the maid;
The tears of pity filled her eyes
  Yet not one word she said.
The maiden stood with outstretched hands,
  All hope indeed was gone;
And yet she stood with fearless heart,
  Undaunted and alone.
"Oh, God, the heart that knows your love
  Will never need to fear;
A priceless gem lies on my face,
  The mother's grateful tear."
The lightnings swept across the ship,
  The darkness wrapped her round;
Above the thunder of the storm,
  There came no other sound.
The morning broke—the storm had fled,
  The wreck was washed away;
And calmly now as yesterday
  The sea in splendor lay.
The noble heart that throbbed with life
  Lay fathoms deep below:
And what lies buried in that heart
  The waves alone can know.

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