Explore "The Light-Keeper" by Joseph C. Lincoln on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
For years I've seen the frothy lines go thund'rin' down the shore; / For years the surge has tossed its kelp and wrack about my door; / I've heard the sea-wind sing its song in whispers 'round the place, / And fought it when it flung the sand, like needles, in my face. / I've seen the sun-rays turn the roof ter blist'rin', tarry coal; / I've seen the ice-drift clog the bay from foamin' shoal ter shoal; / I've faced the winter's snow and sleet, I've felt the summer's shower, / But every night I've lit the lamp up yonder in the tower.
I've seen the sunset flood the earth with streams of rosy light, / And every foot of sea-line specked with twinklin' sails of white; / I've woke ter find the sky a mess of scud and smoky wreath, / A blind wind-devil overhead and hell let loose beneath. / And then ter watch the rollers pound on ledges, bars and rips, / And pray fer them that go, O Lord, down ter the sea in ships! / Ter see the lamp, when darkness comes, throw out its shinin' track, / And think of that one gleamin' speck in all the world of black.