Serene Happiness

On the tranquil breast of ocean,Cradled is my bark,—as spring,Cradles with a gentle motion,The young rosebud blossoming.When the experienced thoughtful wordUtterance finds, it should be heard;I was launched upon a sea,On whose shores was destiny;Dangers and delays before me,Lightnings bursting round me, o'er me;Reefs and rocks which wild waves cover,Eddy-whirlpools rushing over;When the fierce whirl rules the rudder,Well my trembling heart may shudder.What can save my bark from wreck?Is there in the heavens a speck,Whence a single ray of lightDawns upon my darkening sight?Have I not in prayerful prideCourage sought on every side?And my recompense is this,That upon the ocean's breastI have found a place of rest,And a paradise of bliss.I have laid my rudder down,And my bark can speed alone,For the winds that fill my sailsAre the Zephyr's vernal gales;Heaven's own azure flowers are boundGarlanding my forehead round:Flowers so beautiful, so blue,Mirroring back heaven's brightest hue.On the cradling waves I lie,Lulled by their sweet lullaby,Free from care, from sorrow free,On that gently rocking sea,In my maiden's dear embrace—O what smiles illume her face!O what beams of living lightShine from eyes as black as night—Light, whose dazzling flash will dimFlames from eyes of seraphim.Then I seize my lyre—in playMidst the strings my fingers stray;And the strains of music flow—How, or why, I scarcely know;For those fingers often willStray among her moving tresses,As they vibrate to the breezes,And with bliss my pulse is still;Then such power of song is givenTo my lyre—such strains divineThat the stars descend from heaven,Listening to those strains of mine;Circling round my head they dance,And as waking from a trance,From the sea the enchanted moonRises and resounds the tune.Still I sing and still I floatO'er the waters in my boat,Like a Dolphin on his throne,Like another Arion.Then I hear a demon calling,With a thunder-voice appalling—"Storms and dangers are at handMenacing the fatherland!"And I fain would shelter meIn the sea's immensity;Hide me where the wind and waveIn discordant conflict rave.Yes! the petrel's screams foretellWrecks and tempests terrible,When heaven's concave thro' and thro',Wears the o'er-mantling robe of blue.