Thomas Hood

Thomas Hood

May 23, 1799 - May 3, 1845

 

To The Ocean

by Thomas Hood

Shall I rebuke thee, Ocean, my old love,
That once in rage, with the wild winds at strife,
Thou darest menace my unit of a life,
Sending my clay below, my soul above,
Whilst roared thy waves, like lions when they rove
By night, and bound upon their prey by stealth?
Yet didst thou ne'er restore my fainting health? --
Didst thou ne'er murmur gently like the dove?
Nay, didst thou not against my own dear shore
Full break, last link between my land and me? --
My absent friends talk in thy very roar,
In thy waves' beat their kindly pulse I see,
And if I must not see my England more,
Next to her soil, my grave be found in thee!

Coblentz, May, 1835.

Source:

The Poetical Works Of Thomas Hood
Copyright 1861
Boston: Crosby, Nichols, Lee and Company
 

Recommended Works

To A Young Lady Who Sent Me A Laurel Crown. - John KeatsHow bravely Autumn paints upon the sky - Thomas HoodOn Fame (How fever'd is the man, who cannot look ...) - John KeatsTo An Enthusiast - Thomas HoodExaggeration - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo ____. (My heart is sick with longing, though I feed) - Thomas HoodLear - Thomas HoodTo J. H. Reynolds - John KeatsTo My Brother - John KeatsSo reed-like fragile, in the world's whirl nought... - Anne WhitneyLargess from seven-fold heavens, I pray, descend... - Anne WhitneyPatience Taught By Nature - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningO night, a terrible dismay still lurks... - Anne WhitneyO solitude! if I must with thee dwell, - John KeatsHow many bards gild the lapses of time! - John KeatsThe Passion Flower - Anne WhitneyInsufficiency - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningAdequacy - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTO G. A. W. - John KeatsThe world is with me, and its many cares... - Thomas HoodC. L'E. - Anne WhitneyI cry your mercy -- pity -- love -- ay, love ... - John KeatsOn Leigh Hunt's Poem, The Story Of Rimini. - John KeatsTo _. (Time's sea hath been five years at its low ebb, ...) - John KeatsBereavement - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningAddressed To Haydon - John KeatsFrom all these mounds, though day blows fresh and warm, - Anne WhitneyOn Leaving Some Friends At An Early Hour - John KeatsOn A Portrait Of Wordsworth - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningPast And Future - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo The Ocean - Thomas HoodTo The Spirit - Anne WhitneyNo slight caprice rules thee. -- Who sounds one note... - Anne WhitneyI dreamed an angel, Angel twice, through death... - Anne WhitneyIt is not death, that sometime in a sigh... - Thomas HoodO Mankind's God! most silent and most lowly - Anne WhitneyTo Sleep - John KeatsOn First Looking Into Chapman's Homer - John KeatsThe Seraph And Poet - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningThe Soul's Expression - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningConsolation - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningFor The Fourteenth Of February - Thomas HoodFuturity - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningBy every sweet tradition of true hearts,... - Thomas HoodKeats's Last Sonnet - John KeatsThe Look - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo Ailsa Rock - John KeatsOf better fortune coming, then, talk not... - Anne WhitneyGrief - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningOn Fame (Fame, like a wayward girl, will still be coy ...). - John KeatsThe Human Seasons - John KeatsI know this spirit bridges unknown space... - Anne WhitneyContinence - Anne WhitneyOn A Picture Of Leander - John KeatsSubstitution - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningOn The Grasshopper And Cricket - John KeatsFalse Poets And True - Thomas HoodNight - Anne WhitneyTo The Nile - John KeatsTo George Sand: A Recognition - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningCheerfulness Taught By Reason - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningWork And Contemplation - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningA Thought For A Lonely Death-Bed - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningOn The Sea - John KeatsAfter dark vapors have oppress'd our plains ... - John KeatsRead me a lesson, Muse, and speak it loud - John KeatsThe Same (Twas then we said...) - Anne WhitneyAn Apprehension - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningComfort (Speak low to me, my Saviour, low and sweet ...) - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningOn Sitting Down To Read King Lear Once Again. - John KeatsAnswer To A Sonnet Ending Thus: -- - John KeatsWritten In The Cottage Where Burns Was Born - John KeatsTo Kosciusko - John KeatsWhen I have fears that I may cease to be ... - John KeatsPain In Pleasure - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTears - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningThe day is gone, and all its sweets are gone! ... - John KeatsOn Receiving A Gift - Thomas HoodHappy is England! I could be content ... - John KeatsAnd for that thou art Beauty, and thy name... - Anne WhitneyDiscontent - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningIn the still hours, a stiller strength was born - Anne WhitneyTo one who has been long in city pent, ... - John KeatsWithin my life another life runs deep, - Anne WhitneyThou seem'st to solve the eternal unity... - Anne WhitneyTo Haydon - John KeatsIf by dull rhymes our English must be chain'd ... - John KeatsDark rolling clouds in wild confusion driven... - Caroline Bowles SoutheyAlas! and yesternight I woke in terror, - Anne WhitneyTo A Friend Who Sent Me Some Roses - John KeatsIrreparableness - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningO fair mistrust of earth's more solid shows... - Anne WhitneyOn A Dream - John KeatsWhy did I laugh to-night? - John KeatsTo My Brother George - John KeatsThis pleasant tale is like a little copse: ... - John KeatsSonnet To A Sonnet - Thomas HoodStoop low, dear Night, a little star-breeze wakes - Anne WhitneyDarkness surrounds me with its phantom hosts... - Anne WhitneyThe Meaning Of The Look - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo George Sand: A Desire - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo A Sleeping Child - Thomas HoodOn Seeing The Elgin Marbles - John KeatsThree Flowers - Thomas Bailey AldrichWritten On The Day That Mr. Leigh Hunt Left Prison - John KeatsWork (What are we set on earth for? ...) - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningAddressed To The Same - John KeatsPerplexed Music - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningYet are there sunbeams, though the kingly sun... - Anne WhitneyO high-born souls, such as God sends to mould... - Anne WhitneyTo Homer - John KeatsTo The Same - Anne WhitneyKeen Fitful Gusts Are Whispering Here And There - John KeatsThe Prisoner - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningOh! how I love, on a fair summer's eve, ... - John KeatsThe Same (Might we make quest ...) - Anne WhitneyTo Fancy - Thomas HoodTo _. (Had I a man's fair form, then might my sighs ...) - John KeatsThe Two Sayings - Elizabeth Barrett Browning