——And yet this great wink¹ of eternity²，

    Of rimless³ floods， unfettered leewardings，

    Samite sheeted and processioned where

    Her undinal vast belly⁴ moonward bends，

    Laughing the wrapt inflections of our love；

    Take this Sea， whose diapason knells⁶

    On scrolls⁷ of silver snowy sentences，

    The sceptred terror of whose sessions rends⁸

    As her demeanors motion well or ill，

    All but the pieties⁹ of lovers' hands.

    And onward⁵， as bells off San Salvador

    Salute¹⁰ the crocus lustres of the stars，

    In these poinsettia meadows of her tides，——

    Adagios¹¹ of islands， O my Prodigal¹²，

    Complete the dark confessions¹³ her veins¹⁴ spell.

    Mark how her turning shoulders wind the hours，

    And hasten while her penniless rich palms

    Pass superscription of bent¹⁵ foam¹⁶ and wave，——

    Hasten， while they are true，——sleep， death， desire，

    Close round one instant in one floating flower.

    Bind¹⁷ us in time， O Seasons clear， and awe¹⁸.

    O minstrel galleons¹⁹ of Carib fire，

    Bequeath us to no earthly shore until

    Is answered in the vortex of our grave

    The seal's wide spindrift gaze toward paradise.