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Thomas Hood - The Sea of Death
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——Methought I saw 
Life swiftly treading over endless space; 
And, at her foot-print, but a bygone pace, 
The ocean-past, which, with increasing wave, 
Swallow`d her steps like a pursuing grave. 
Sad were my thoughts that anchor`d silently 
On the dead waters of that passionless sea, 
Unstirr`d by any touch of living breath: 
Silence hung over it, and drowsy Death, 
Like a gorged sea-bird, slept with folded wings 
On crowded carcases—sad passive things 
That wore the thin gray surface, like a veil 
Over the calmness of their features pale. 
And there were spring-faced cherubs that did sleep 
Like water-lilies on that motionless deep, 
How beautiful! with bright unruffled hair 
On sleek unfretted brows, and eyes that were 
Buried in marble tombs, a pale eclipse! 
And smile-bedimpled cheeks, and pleasant lips, 
Meekly apart, as if the soul intense 
Spake out in dreams of its own innocence: 
And so they lay in loveliness, and kept 
The birth-night of their peace, that Life e`en wept 
With very envy of their happy fronts; 
For there were neighbor brows scarr`d by the brunts 
Of strife and sorrowing—where Care had set 
His crooked autograph, and marr`d the jet 
Of glassy locks, with hollow eyes forlorn, 
And lips that curl`d in bitterness and scorn— 
Wretched,—as they had breathed of this world`s pain, 
And so bequeathed it to the world again, 
Through the beholder`s heart in heavy sighs. 
So lay they garmented in torpid light, 
Under the pall of a transparent night, 
Like solemn apparitions lull`d sublime 
To everlasting rest,—and with them Time 
Slept, as he sleeps upon the silent face 
Of a dark dial in a sunless place.
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