Black phantoms gather o’er the sea,
And move in groups mysteriously;
With shears in hand they watching wait.
The night grows old; the hour is late;
The ocean foams with angry glee,
Its waters roll tempestuously,
And dash the white salt-spangled spray
Against the rocks, in rudest play.

The glimmering light around, below,
A sad wan face there fain would show;
But darkness claims the night’s last hour,
Enchaining it with mystic power.
In rugged outlines where they stand,
Tall, spectral cliffs shut out the land,
And shelter lend those forms who creep
On evil wings above the deep.

All noiselessly, with one consent,
Their work but on one object bent,
They carry out a sovereign will,
And never rest, and ne’er are still.
They look like beings who frequent
A nether world—their time is spent
In weaving sorrow, grief, and pain
For those who sail the boundless main.

Quite unaware, from out the night,
A ship glides forth so tall and white
Amid the darkness. Straightway she
Steers headlong to Eternity.
The vessel bears across the deep
A freight, who all unconscious sleep.
Gray gloom hath topped each frowning height
Which rising phantoms hide from sight;
With outstretched hands in air they loom,
The ship to beckon to its doom.
But no, not yet; ’tis not to be;
Thou’rt cheated! Look, thou angry sea!
Above the heights, there doth appear
A form, upholding high a spear
Of sparkling light! It is the morn!
The night is dead! The day is born!
“Begone!” she cries, her hand she rears;
“Bend low your heads, let fall your shears!
Away, you evil-meaning bands!
Aye! Hide your faces in your hands.
Together link yourselves and flee,
And leave the brave in peace with me.”

The ship is stayed. The helm they turn,
While sailors’ hearts within them burn
To see the rocks, the seething foam,
The whirlpool eddying round its home,
And giant cliffs so near at hand.
A treacherous path those spirits planned,
To lead them onward to their doom.
There soon they must have found a tomb,
Had not the morning’s early light
Reclaimed them from the clutch of night.