Broad in the beam, but sloping aft
With graceful curve and slow degrees,
That she might be docile to the helm,
And that the currents of parted seas,
Closing behind, with mighty force,
Might aid and not impede her course.

In the ship-yard stood the Master,
With the model of the vessel,

That should laugh at all disaster,

And with wave and whirlwind wrestle !

Covering many a rood of ground,

Lay the timber piled around;

Timber of chestnut, and elm, and oak,

And scattered here and there, with these, The knarred and crooked cedar knees; Brought from regions far away,

From Pascagoula's sunny bay,

And the banks of the roaring Roanoke !

Ah! what a wondrous thing it is

To note how many wheels of toil

One thought, one word, can set in motion !
There's not a ship that sails the ocean,
But every climate, every soil,

Must bring its tribute, great or small,
And help to build the wooden wall!

The sun was rising o'er the sea,
And long the level shadows lay,
As if they, too, the beams would be
Of some great, airy argosy,
Framed and launched in a single day.
That silent architect, the sun,

Had hewn and laid them every one,
Ere the work of man was yet begun.
Beside the Master, when he spoke,
A youth, against an anchor leaning,

Listened, to catch his slightest meaning.
Only the long waves, as they broke

In ripples on the pebbly beach,

Interrupted the old man's speech.

Beautiful they were, in sooth,
The old man and the fiery youth!
The old man, in whose busy brain
Many a ship that sailed the main
Was modelled o'er and o'er again ;

The fiery youth, who was to be

The heir of his dexterity,

The heir of his house, and his daughter's hand,

When he had built and launched from land

What the elder head had planned.

"Thus," said he, "will we build this ship! Lay square the blocks upon the slip,

And follow well this plan of mine.

Choose the timbers with greatest care ;

Of all that is unsound beware;

For only what is sound and strong

To this vessel shall belong.

Cedar of Maine and Georgia pine
Here together shall combine.

A goodly frame, and a goodly fame,
And the UNION be her name !

For the day that gives her to the sea
Shall give my daughter unto thee! "

The Master's word

Enraptured the young man heard;

And as he turned his face aside,

With a look of joy and a thrill of pride, Standing before

Her father's door,

He saw the form of his promised bride.

The sun shone on her golden hair,

And her cheek was glowing fresh and fair, With the breath of morn and the soft sea a.r.

Like a beauteous barge was she,

Still at rest on the sandy beach,

Just beyond the billow's reach;

But he

Was the restless, seething, stormy sea!

Ah, how skilful grows the hand
That obeyeth Love's command!
It is the heart, and not the brain,
That to the highest doth attain,

And he who followeth Love's behest

Far exceedeth all the rest!

Thus with the rising of the sun

Was the noble task begun,

And soon throughout the ship-yard's bounds

Were heard the intermingled sounds