Fresh From His Fastnesses

To J. A. C.     Fresh from his fastnesses     Wholesome and spacious,     The North Wind, the mad huntsman,     Halloas on his white hounds     Over the grey, roaring     Reaches and ridges,     The forest of ocean,     The chace of the world.     Hark to the peal     Of the pack in full cry,     As he thongs them before him,     Swarming voluminous,     Weltering, wide-wallowing,     Till in a ruining     Chaos of energy,     Hurled on their quarry,     They crash into foam!     Old Indefatigable,     Time's right-hand man, the sea     Laughs as in joy     From his millions of wrinkles:     Laughs that his destiny,     Great with the greatness     Of triumphing order,     Shows as a dwarf     By the strength of his heart     And the might of his hands.     Master of masters,     O maker of heroes,     Thunder the brave,     Irresistible message:-     'Life is worth Living     Through every grain of it,     From the foundations     To the last edge     Of the cornerstone, death.'