I love the sea in every mood and whim,
In restless longing, mad desire, or care;
I love her when beneath the sunlit air,
She chants a mellow dirge or peaceful hymn—
While far beyond the lights grow sweet and dim.
I love her when across the tide-lands bare
She beats, and breaks her heart in passion there;
Or when with great soul filled unto the brim
With maddest mirth, she shakes her tawny hair,
And flings her soft blue arms—the while she sings
An almost bacch’nal song. So strong, so free!
Her very strength has power to ease my care,
And her great heart to my heart comfort brings.
Above all things on earth I love the sea.
“The Sea” as it appeared in Higginson’s column “Fact and Fancy” in the West Shore magazine (September 6, 1890) as dated by Higginson herself. Clipping courtesy of the Ella Higginson Papers, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Heritage Resources, Western Washington University, Bellingham Washington.