William Dimond （b. 1780,d. 1837） was a dramatist and poet,living at Bath,England,where he was born and received his education. He afterwards studied for the bar in London. His literary productions are for the most part dramas,but he has alswritten a number of poems,among them the following:
1.In slumbers of midnight the sailor boy lay;His hammock1 swung loose at the sport of the wind;But watch-worn and weary,his cares flew away,And visions of happiness danced o‘er his mind.
2.He dreamed of his home,of his dear native bowers,And pleasures that waited on life’s merry morn;While Memory each scene gayly covered with flowers,And restored every rose,but secreted the thorn.
3.Then Fancy her magical pinions spread wide,And bade the young dreamer in ecstasy rise;Now,far,far behind him the green waters glide,And the cot of his forefathers blesses his eyes.
4.The jessamine clambers in flowers o‘er the thatch,And the swallow chirps sweet from her nest in the wall;1Hammock,a hanging or swinging bed,usually made of netting or hempen cloth.
All trembling with transport1,he raises the latch,And the voices of loved ones reply this call.
5.A father bends o’er him with looks of delight;His cheek is impearled2 with a mother‘s warm tear;And the lips of the boy in a love kiss uniteWith the lips of the maid whom his bosom holds dear.
6.The heart of the sleeper beats high in his breast;Joy quickens his pulses,-all his hardships seem o’er;And a murmur of happiness steals through his rest,-"God! thou hast blest me,-I ask for nmore."
7.Ah! whence is that flame which now bursts on his eye?
Ah! what is that sound that now ‘larums3 his ear? ’T is the lightning‘s red glare painting hell on the sky!T is the crashing of thunders,the groan of the sphere!
8.He springs from his hammock,-he flies tthe deck;Amazement confronts him with images dire;Wild winds and mad waves drive the vessel a wreck;The masts fly in splinters;the shrouds are on fire.
9.Like mountains the billows tremendously swell;In vain the lost wretch calls on Mercy tsave;Unseen hands of spirits are ringing his knell,And the death angel flaps his broad wings o‘er the wave!
1Transport,ecstasy,rapture.
2Impearled,decorated with pearls,or with things resembling pearls.3Larums （an abbreviation of alarums,for alarms）,affrights,terrifies.
10.sailor boy,woe tthy dream of delight!
In darkness dissolves the gay frostwork of bliss! Where now is the picture that Fancy touched bright,-Thy parents’ fond pressure,and love‘s honeyed kiss?
11.sailor boy! sailor boy! never againShall home,love,or kindred,thy wishes repay;Unblessed and unhonored,down deep in the main,Full many a fathom,thy frame shall decay.
12.Ntomb shall e’er plead tremembrance for thee,Or redeem form or fame from the merciless surge;But the white foam of waves shall thy winding sheet be,And winds in the midnight of winter thy dirge1.
13.On a bed of green sea flowers thy limbs shall be laid,- Around thy white bones the red coral shall grow;Of thy fair yellow locks threads of amber be made,And every part suit tthy mansion below.
14.Days,months,years,and ages shall circle away,And still the vast waters above thee shall roll;Earth loses thy pattern forever and aye;sailor boy! sailor boy! peace tthy soul!
1 Dirge,funeral music.