The Reply

Thank you for your pleasant rhyme,
Sent here since some little time,
Telling what aromal essence
Of the sea was in my presence,
As if, from the blue abysm,
Came a kind of hypnotism
In my garments, to awake
Just the dream the waters make.
                          ---------
Sailors, in mid-ocean meeting,
For a momentary greeting,
Dip their pennants, and away
Havenward [sic], with no delay-
Just a nod, and then good-by, 
Vanished between sea and sky;
So it chanced to you and me,
Voyagers of a vaster sea;
You set straightway to your port:
I, adrift, the chance winds' sport;
All my freight stowed under hatches, 
Ripe for printers' Ink-or matches.
                          ---------
Welcome Is your kindly hall, 
Where I hang with flapping sail,
While your keel goes bravely home,
In a trail of flashing foam;
To whatever isle or isthmus;
Good cheer, and a merry Christmas.