"The Sea of Opal"

"The Sea of Opal"

O, many a time on the Sea of Opal,

     The day and the night have narrowly missed;

And many a time on her tremulous bosom

     The sun and the moon have passionately kissed.

O, many a star in the Sea of Opal

     Has sparkled, and shivered, and sunk from view;

And eyes have grown dim with waiting and watching

     For ships that were lost in the shimmering blue.

O, many a heart on the Sea of Opal

     Has sailed away in the cold gray mist;

And hearts that were left have fainted of doubting,

     With souls unsatisfied, lips unkissed.

O, sweetheart! Life is a Sea of Opal—

     The sun is a happiness, sorrow the mist;

And the stars that are lost in its tremulous bosom

     Are tears unshed and kisses unkissed.

"The Sea of Opal" clipped from West Shore magazine. Ella Higginson has written above it, "Sept 20th '90," telling us that it appeared in 1890. Clipping courtesy of the Ella Higginson Papers, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Heritage Resources, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA.