Home-Thoughts, From The Sea
by
Nobly, nobly, Cape Saint Vincent to the Northwest died away;
Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay;
Bluish ‘mid the burning water, full in face Trafalgar deg. lay;
In the dimmest Northeast distance dawned Gibraltar deg. grand and gray;
“Here and here did England help me: how can I help England?”–say,
Whoso turns as I, this evening, turn to God and pray,
While Jove’s planet rises yonder, silent over Africa.
NOTE
This poem is a companion piece to Home Thoughts, from Abroad. It is, however, distinctly inferior to it in clearness, vividness of feeling, and lyric sweetness.
Line 3. =Trafalgar=, The scene of the famous victory of the English admiral, Nelson, over the French fleet in 1805.
Line 4. =Gibraltar=. The famous rocky promontory at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It has been held as an English fort since 1704.