I know it is a sin

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!

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.

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 …

And silence, like a poultice, comes To heal the blows of sound.