With that he clambered up the rugged face
  Of that steep cliff that all in shadow lay,
And, lo, there was a dry and homelike place,
  Comforting refuge for the castaway;
And he laid down his weary, weary head,
And took his fill of sleep till dawn waxed red.

When he awoke, warm stirring from the south
  Of delicate summer air did sough and flow;
He rose, and, wending to the cavern’s mouth,
  He cast his eyes a little way below
Where on the narrow ledges, sharp and rude,
Preening their wings the blue rock-pigeons cooed.

Then he looked lower and saw the lavender
  And sea-thrift blooming in long crevices,
And the brown wallflower—­April’s messenger,
  The wallflower marshalled in her companies. 
Then lower yet he looked adown the steep,
And sheer beneath him lapped the lovely deep.

The laughing deep;—­and it was pacified
  As if it had not raged that other day. 
And it went murmuring in the morningtide
  Innumerable flatteries on its way,
Kissing the cliffs and whispering at their feet
With exquisite advancement, and retreat.

This when the mariner beheld he sighed,
  And thought on his companions lying low. 
But while he gazed with eyes unsatisfied
  On the fair reaches of their overthow,
Thinking it strange he only lived of all,
But not returning thanks, he heard a call!

A soft sweet call, a voice of tender ruth,
  He thought it came from out the cave.  And, lo,
It whispered, “Man, look up!” But he, forsooth,
  Answered, “I cannot, for the long waves flow
Across my gallant ship where sunk she lies
  With all my riches and my merchandise.

“Moreover, I am heavy for the fate
  Of these my mariners drowned in the deep;
I must lament me for their sad estate
  Now they are gathered in their last long sleep. 
O! the unpitying heavens upon me frown,
Then how should I look up?—­I must look down.”

And he stood yet watching the fair green sea
  Till hunger reached him; then he made a fire,
A driftwood fire, and wandered listlessly
  And gathered many eggs at his desire,
And dressed them for his meal, and then he lay
And slept, and woke upon the second day.

Whenas he said, “The cave shall be my home;
  None will molest me, for the brown cliffs rise
Like castles of defence behind,—­the foam
  Of the remorseless sea beneath me lies;
’Tis easy from the cliff my food to win—­
The nations of the rock-dove breed therein.

“For fuel, at the ebb yon fair expanse
  Is strewed with driftwood by the breaking wave,
And in the sea is fish for sustenance. 
  I will build up the entrance of the cave,
And leave therein a window and a door,
And here will dwell and leave it nevermore.”

Then even so he did:  and when his task,
  Many long days being over, was complete,
When he had eaten, as he sat to bask
  In the red firelight glowing at his feet,
He was right glad of shelter, and he said,
“Now for my comrades am I comforted.”