Sunset On Hampton Roads
James Barron Hope
Behind me purplish lines marked out the town,
Before me stretched the noble Roadstead's tide:
And there I saw the Evening sun go down
Casting a parting glory far and wide—
As King who for the cowl puts off his crown—
So went the sun: and left a wealth of light
Ere hidden by the cloister-gates of Night.
Beholding this my soul was stilled in prayer,
I understood how all men, save the blind,
Might find religion in a scene so fair
And formulate a creed within the mind;—
See prophesies in clouds; fates in the air;
The skies flamed red; the murm'ring waves were hushed—
"The conscious water saw its God and blushed.
James Barron Hope was born and died in Norfolk Virginia, overlooking Hampton Roads.
