The Sea, the Sea

The sea, the sea—is but a rock, a stone and a foam, And the winds are the spirals that are whispering; And woe is the stain on the rock of air that sounds beneath Its crests to shore! Mine is the shore full of life Upon which each crest, white and sparkling, Leaps with its own shadow, its echo, its jewel— As the woods breathe in the hollow sun, light and shaded.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley

• Percy Bysshe Shelley