Father Ryan's Poems (36)

    The waves were weary, and they went to sleep； The winds were hushed； The starlight flushed The furrowed¹ face of all the mighty² deep.

    The billows yester eve so dark and wild, Wore strangely now A calm upon their brow, Like that which rests upon a cradled child.

    The sky was bright, and every single star, With gleaming face, Was in its place, And looked upon the sea —— so fair and far.

    And all was still —— still as a temple dim, When low and faint, As murmurs³ plaint, Dies the last note of the Vesper hymn⁴.

    A bark slept on the sea, and in the bark Slept Mary's Son -The only One Whose face is light！ where all, all else, is dark.

    His brow was heavenward turned, His face was fair He dreamed of me On that still sea —— The stars He made were gleaming through His hair.

    And lo！ a moan moved o'er the mighty deep； The sky grew dark： The little bark Felt all the waves awaking from their sleep.

    The winds wailed⁵ wild, and wilder billows beat； The bark was tossed： Shall all be lost？ But Mary's Son slept on, serene⁶ and sweet.

    The tempest raged in all its mighty wrath⁷, The winds howled on, All hope seemed gone, And darker waves surged round the bark's lone⁸ path.

    The sleeper⁹ woke！ He gazed upon the deep； He whispered： "Peace！ Winds —— wild waves, cease！ Be still！" The tempest fled -the ocean fell asleep.

    And ah！ when human hearts by storms are tossed, When life's lone bark Drifts through the dark And 'mid¹⁰ the wildest waves where all seems lost,

    He now, as then, with words of power and peace, Murmurs： "Stormy deep, Be still —— still —— and sleep！" And lo！ a great calm comes —— the tempest's perils¹¹ cease.