Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By EllaHigginson

1495 The Lamp in the West

VENUS has lit her silver lamp

Low in the purple West,

Casting a soft and mellow light

Upon the sea’s full breast;

In one clear path—as if to guide

Some pale, wayfaring guest.

Far out, far out the restless bar

Starts from a troubled sleep,

Where, roaring through the narrow straits,

The meeting waters leap;

But still that shining pathway leads

Across the lonely deep.

When I sail out the narrow straits

Where unknown dangers be,

And cross the troubled, moaning bar

To the mysterious sea,

Dear God, wilt thou not set a lamp

Low in the West for me?