A Prayer for Youth at Sea

Captain ! There is no harbour that is sure
Save Thy sure harbour. Over minèd seas
Gathers the dreadful dawn that shall inure
Our hearts to bloodshed, our pale sympathies
Distorting horribly in this its red
And wild reflection. Blind we steer the blind.
The cruising stars are darkened overhead,
No Pharos beacons us, no plummets find
The depths of this uncharted waste of war.
Perchance thine evening mariners may hold
The day well spent, nor fear the darkling bar.
They have lost count of the stars; their eyes are old;
But some in the young night can count them all,
Captain! Remember these when the dark shall fall.