The Moon Shone Calmly Bright Poem by John Imlah

The moon shone calmly bright
Upon the slumb'ring scene,
Ten thousand stars shone out that night,
Around their placid queen;
A ship hath left the shore,-
Where shall that good ship be,
Ere fill the moon one bright horn more?-
Deep- deep in the booming sea.

'Hark!- heard ye not, but now,
A wild unearthly cry,'
They ask with troubled breast and brow,
And startled ear and eye-
'Was't the water-spirit's shriek?
What may the boding be?'
And a moment blanch'd the brownest cheek,
On the deep and booming sea.

'What fear?- the breeze to night
Can scarce a ripple wake,
And slow moves our ship with her wings of white,
Like a swan o'er a moonlit lake!'
Ah! little dreamt they then
The change so soon to be,
And arose the songs of jovial men
On the deep and booming sea!

'Tis morn- but such a morn
May bark ne'er brave again,
Through vaulting billows- tempest-torn,
Toils the reeling ship in vain!
The waves are hushed and blue,
But where- oh! where is she,
The good ship with her gallant crew?
Deep- down in the booming sea!