To the Rev. Mr. Newton, on His Return From Ramsgate
That ocean you have late surveyed,
Those rocks I too have seen;
But I, afflicted and dismayed,
You tranquil and serene.
You from the flood-controlling steep
Saw stretched before your view,
With conscious joy, the threatening deep,
No longer such to you.
To me, the waves that ceaseless broke
Upon the dangerous coast,
Hoarsely and ominously spoke
Of all my treasure lost.
Your sea of troubles you have past,
And found the peaceful shore;
I, tempest-tost, and wrecked at last,
Come home to port no more.
