Quote#God & Faith
The god looked out upon the troubled deep
Quote byOliver Wendell Holmes · 1809–1894
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: "First Verses", translation from the Æneid, Book I, written while at Phillips Academy, Andover, MA (1824 or 1825).
English (original)
The god looked out upon the troubled deep Waked into tumult from its placid sleep; The flame of anger kindles in his eye As the wild waves ascend the lowering sky; He lifts his head above their awful height And to the distant fleet directs his sight.
— Oliver Wendell Holmes
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes
The mossy marbles rest On the lips that he has prest In their bloom; And the names he loved to hear Have been carved for many a year On the tomb.
Thou say’st an undisputed thing In such a solemn way.
Storms, thunders, waves! Howl, crash, and bellow till ye get your fill; Ye sometimes rest; men never can be still But in their graves.
Nail to the mast her holy flag, Set every threadbare sail And give her to the god of storms, The lightning and the gale!
I know it is a sin For me to sit and grin At him here; But the old three-cornered hat, And the breeches, and all that, Are so queer!
And silence, like a poultice, comes To heal the blows of sound.