Unrecorded.

The splendors of a southern sun
    Caress the glowing sky;
O'er crested waves, the colors glance
    And gleaming, softly die.
A gentle calm from heaven falls
    And weaves a mystic spell;
A glowing grace that charms the soul--
    Whose glory none can tell.

Oh, warm sweet treasures of a sun
    Of endless fire and love;
Those dying embers are the flames
    From heavenly fires above.
Unto the water's edge they creep
    And bathe the seas in red;
Then die like shadows on the deep
    With glory cold and dead.

A ship--a lone, dark wanderer
    Upon the southern seas,
Speeds like a white-faced messenger
    Before the dying breeze.
Her masts are tipped with amethyst,
    A splendor all untold;
A crimson mantle wraps her round,
    Her sails are made of gold.

The light wind dies--she slowly drifts,
    Then stops--an idle thing;
While sunset clouds around her prow
    A dreamy grandeur fling.
And eyes upon her deck look forth
    With looks of longing pain;
A hundred sunsets they would give
    Dear home to see again.

But see! a shadow as of night
    Spreads o'er the crimson sky;
Like doomed and lifeless forms of earth
    The clouds in heaven lie.
A silence falls--the ship stands still,
    A fated thing of earth;
Then like a child of sin and wrong
    The storm is given birth.

Oh! struggle well ye gallant crew
    With storm and wind and wave;
For there are helpless women here
    And children, too, to save.
Quick--sailors do your duty well--
    And man the life-boats, too;
For soon the rocks will strand the ship,
    And pierce her through and through.

See! like a woman turned to stone
    A weeping mother stands;
Her heart seems like seems like some frozen thing--
    She wrings her trembling hands;
Within her arms she holds a child
    With frightened wond'ring eyes;
Below--the waters pitiless--
    Above--the angry skies.

Beside her stands a fair young girl
    With eyes that flash and quiver;
They are the only ones still left,
    These three that moan and shiver.
But soon a voice shouts back the words--
    Through all the deaf'ning roar:--
A strong hand grasps the trembling girl,
    "There's room for just one more."

"Stay, stay," she cries with whitened face
    "Why should I fear to die?
Oh, take this woman by my side,
    Nor stay to question why.
She has a dear one 'mongst your crew,
    She is a mother, too;
I am alone--I fear not death,
    If this you'll only do."

The sailor grasped the mother's hand,
    She turned and kissed the maid;
The tears of pity filled her eyes
    Yet not one word she said.
The maiden stood with outstretched hands,
    All hope indeed was gone;
And yet she stood with fearless heart,
    Undaunted and alone.

"Oh, God, the heart that knows your love
    Will never need to fear;
A priceless gem lies on my face,
    The mother's grateful tear."
The lightnings swept across the ship,
    The darkness wrapped her round;
Above the thunder of the storm,
    There came no other sound.

The morning broke--the storm had fled,
    The wreck was washed away;
And calmly now as yesterday
    The sea in splendor lay.
The noble heart that throbbed with life
    Lay fathoms deep below:
And what lies buried in that heart
    The waves alone can know.