The Laughter of the Sea

Furred with frost, beside the path,

Little poles of grass conduct

The foot along. Here leaves lie flattened

Clammy brown, with whitened veins,

Here a stream, unfrozen still,

Crosses the path, and tumbles straight

Into the bushes. After that you round a bend

And the sudden sea displayed

Ripples in the sudden sunlight,

Miles on glittering miles of light,

Scattered back to the sky;

Looking like laughter to the eye,

Raising feelings like laughter in the heart.

The sea whose currents lick

Round continents, and flow

Underneath the ice-capped pole,

Raise storms of wind

In sleepy coves, and hurl blue tons

Of water on the rocks,

Now in the winter sun

Coils sparkling, and makes laughter seem

The rule and truth of things,

Makes sunlight and laughter seem the truth

And rule of things for ever.