Poetic Tides Through Time

The Captain's Daughter

We were crowded in the cabin,
         Not a soul would dare to sleep, -
It was midnight on the waters,
         And a storm was on the deep.

"Tis a fearful thing in winter
         To be shattered by the blast,
And to hear the rattling trumpet
         Thunder, "Cut away the mast!"

So we shuddered there in silence, -
         For the softest held his breath,
While the hungry sea was roaring
         And the breakers talked with death.

As thus we sat in darkness
         Each one busy with his prayers,
"We are lost," the captain shouted,
         As he staggered down the stairs.

But his little daughter whispered,
         As she took his icy hand,
"Isn't God upon the ocean,
         Just the same as on the land?"

Then we kissed the little maiden,
         And we spake in better cheer,
And we anchored safe in harbor
         When the morn was shining clear.

                             James Thomas Fields [1816-1881]

From: The Home Book of Verse by Burton Egbert Stevenson, 1917, pg.178

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         Day 10 - "The Captain's Daughter"  is a simple poem of the faith of a child in the midst of a storm that appeals to me and again brings back early memories - "We are lost," the Captain shouted as he staggered down the stairs" - paints a bleak and ominous picture. James Thomas Fields is another New England author and poet, who was also an editor and a publisher of The Atlantic Monthly. This poem is also known as "The Ballad Of The Tempest" : https://www.poemhunter.com/james-thomas-fields/poems/ .