Sea Memories
by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Often I think of the
beautiful town
That is seated by the sea;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of that dear old town,
And my youth comes back to me.
And the verse of a
Lapland song
Is
haunting my memory fill.
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the
thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."
I can see the shadowy line of its trees
And catch, in sudden
gleams,
The sheen of the far surrounding seas
And islands that were the
Hespiudes
Of all my boyish dreams.
And the
murmur of that old song,
It murmurs and whispers still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of
youth are long, long thoughts."
I remember the black
wharves and ships,
And the sea tides tossing free;
And the
Spanish sailors with bearded lips,
And the beauty and mystery of the ships,
And the magic of the sea.
And the voice of that wayward song
Is
swinging and saying still:
"A boy's
will is the
wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."