Father Ryan's Poems (102)

    To-day a bird on wings as white as foam¹ That crests² the blue-gray wave, With the vesper light upon its breast, flew home Seaward. The God who gave To the birds the virgin-wings of snow Somehow telleth them the ways they go.

    Unto the Evening went the white-winged bird —— Gray clouds hung round the West —— And far away the tempest's tramp was heard. The bird flew for a rest Away from the grove³, out to the sea —— Is it only a bird's mystery？

    Nay⁴！ nay！ lone⁵ bird！ I watched thy wings of white That cleft⁶ thy waveward way —— Past the evening and swift into the night, Out of the calm, bright day —— And thou didst teach me, bird of the sea, More than one human heart's history.

    Only men's hearts —— tho' God shows each its way That leadeth hence to home ——Unlike the wild sea-birds, somehow go astray, Seeking in the far foam Of this strange world's tempest-trampled main A resting place —— but they seek in vain.

    Only the bird can rest upon the deep, And sleep upon the wave, And dream its peaceful dreams where wild winds sweep. And sweet the God who gave The birds a rest place on the restless sea —— But this, my heart, is not His way with thee.

    Over the world, ah！ passion's tempests roll, And every fleck⁷ of foam Whitens the place where sank some sin-wrecked soul That never shall reach home. Ah！ the tranquil⁸ shore of God's sweet, calm grace, My heart, is thy only resting place.