George Sterling

In Extremis

Till dawn the Winds' insuperable throng
    Passed over like archangels in their might,
    With roar of chariots from their stormy height,
And broken thunder of mysterious song—
By mariner or sentry heard along
    The star-usurping battlements of night—
    And wafture of immeasurable flight,
And high-blown trumpets mutinous and strong.

Till louder on the dreadful dark I heard
    The shrieking of the tempest-tortured tree,
        And deeper on immensity the call
    And tumult of the empire-forging sea;
But near the eternal Peace I lay, nor stirred,
        Knowing the happy dead hear not at all.