Wind Squalls

I hear the big waves tumbling on the rocks,

         I see the light foam of their frenzied dance,

         Over the reef the shaggy cormorant haunts

Tossed to the gales, and strewn like scattered flocks

By the wolf winds; and in their thunder shocks

         The fitful wave like a wild racer pants

         To win its goal, while sudden sunbeams glance

Through the torn clouds whose routed phalanx mocks

The thirsty earth with a wain hope of showers,

         Through all the air a vibrant murmur tells

         Where the gray ocean rings his granite bells,

As if to rouse the conclave of his powers;

         And a faint tremor shudders through the land

That feels the giant tread of leashed storms in his hand.