I know great clouds are all around the sky;
I know great rocks are seen along the shore;
Waves terrible, I know, dash loud and high,
With deathful sound resounding more and more;
I know the path is rugged from the bay;
That sweetest flowers have still some hurtful thorn;
To-morrow's storms I know are sure as day,
For certain woe is ours when we are born;
That life within the soul uncertain burns;
I know its battle unto blood for good.
All this and more than this I know, yet turns
My heart to where with thee alone I stood,
Watching day's glory resting on the sea;
And terrors fade as I draw breath from thee.