A Summer Day by the Sea - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The sun is set; and in his latest beams
Yon little cloud of ashen gray and gold,
Slowly upon the amber air unrolled,
The falling mantle of the Prophet seems.
From the dim headlands many a light-house gleams,
The street-lamps of the ocean; and behold,
O'erhead the banners of the night unfold;
The day hath passed into the land of dreams.
O summer day beside the joyous sea!
O summer day so wonderful and white,
So full of gladness and so full of pain!
Forever and forever shalt thou be
To some the gravestone of a dead delight,
To some the landmark of a new domain.
Boat Song – Sarah Orne Jewett
Oh, rest your oars and let me drift
While all the stars come out to see!
The birds are talking in their sleep
As we go by so silently.
The idle winds are in the pines;
The ripples touch against the shore.
Oh, rest your oars and let me drift,
And let me dream forevermore!
The sweet wild roses hear and wake,
And send their fragrance through the air;
The hills are hiding in the dark,
There is no hurry anywhere.
The shadows close around the boat,
Ah, why should we go back to shore!
So rest your oars, and we will float
Without a care forevermore.
Oh, little waves that plash and call,
How fast you lead us out of sight!
And we must follow where you go
This strange and sweet midsummer night;
The quiet river reaches far—
The darkness covers all the shore;
With idle oars we downward float
In starlight dim forevermore.