Sonnet LXXXVI

HUGE vapours brood above the clifted shore,Night on the Ocean settles, dark and mute,Save where is heard the repercussive roarOf drowsy billows, on the rugged footOf rocks remote; or still more distant toneOf seamen in the anchor'd bark that tellThe watch reliev'd; or one deep voice alone,Singing the hour, and bidding "Strike the bell,"All is black shadow, but the lucid lineMark'd by the light surf on the level sand,Or where afar the ship-lights faintly shineLike wandering fairy fires, that oft on landMislead the Pilgrim——Such the dubious rayThat wavering Reason lends, in life's long darkling way.