A flash of silver wings in the sun,
And I see, with divine surprise,
Here in the Midlands quiet and dun-
Sea-gulls up in the skies!

Sea-gulls! I am content no more
With tame little fields and woods:
My thoughts are set to rock-bound shore,
The sea, and the sea's wild moods.

God! for a headland far away.
Bare to the autumn gale,
Where the great waves roar, and the wind-whirled spray
Drifts out like a torn white veil.

And the wild white horses toss their manes
Far out as the eye may reach,
While the sea-birds cry in the winds and the rains,
(The boats moored high on the beach).
* * * * *
Back go the sea-gulls, splendid and free,
In rhythmical, ordered flight,
And my heart goes with them, home to the sea,
As I watch them out of sight.