The storm raves on all night, I stand
And watch the waves, in fury foaming,
Patch up the ruptured seams of sand -
I gaze from a distant height of land
As waves smash heads while shoreward homing.

Some sympathies in me there are
For those so lost - but from afar.

I hear the wheeze and deathly moan
And frenzy of those vainly striving, -
And why not - seize the drive for home,
Refurbish strength, pierce through the foam -
And smash one’s head upon arriving.

Some sympathies in me there are
For those so lost - but from afar.

Again the winds on wavecrests beat
And cause the foaming manes to rumple.
The waves won’t rise to clear the reef, -
Like horses swept right off their feet -
They, frothing, take a fatal tumble.

Some sympathies indeed there are
For horses lost - but from afar.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

I too will thus be torn apart
By raging wind which never ceases.
A prescient babbling in my heart
Hints that I’ll break my back and start
To see my own head smashed to pieces.

Some sympathies indeed there are
For my lost soul - but from afar.

Thus many watch, from days of yore,
Upon the shore, the scene unspoken,
Transfixed, alert, while more and more,
The souls of others toward them pour
And backs and heads on rocks are broken.

Some sympathies indeed there are
For those so lost - but from afar.