Henry Alford

"Evermore the night wave beateth on"

Evermore the night wave beateth on, Heavily dashing up the pebbled shore; Evermore the silent stars look on;-- Evermore the spent wave draweth back Hoarsely chiding pebbles down the shore; Westward float the stars amid the rack:-- Will the night wind never cease to rave In the pauses of the tumbling sea? Every moment falls the same dull wave Heavily dashing down continually; Floateth on in discontinuous mass Weary vapour over the dim sea; Stars look downward as the blue gulphs pass With a pale fixt lustre silently. Time will go to sleep-- And the first eternal laws Which the world in balance keep, Wreck us by a pause;-- Rise, thou golden sun, from out the deep,-- Break the charm that lulls the universe to sleep.