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BY THE SEA
Backward and forward, under the moon,
Swings the tide, in its old-time way;
Never too late and enver too soon; -
And evening and morning make the day.

Backward and forward, over the sands,
And over the rocks to fall and flow;
And this wave has touched a dead man's hands,
And that one has seen a face we know.

They have sped the good ship on her way,
Or buried her deep from love and light;
But here, as they sink at our feet to day,
Ah, who shall distinguish their voices aright?

For their separate burdens of hope and fear,
Are blended now in one solemn tone;
And only this song of the waves I hear,
"Forever and ever His will be done."

Backward and forward, to and fro,
Swings our life in its weary way;
Now aat its ebb, and now at its flow;
And evening and morning make the day.

Sorrow and comfort, peace and strife.
Pain and rejoicing, its moments know;
How from the discords of such a life,
Shall the clear music upward flow?

Yet to the ear of God it swells,
And to the blessed round the throne,
Sweeter than chime of vesper-bells,
"Forever and ever His will be done."

Conversational Quotations
Sam Weller (Pickwick Papers) did not
originate the expression "wheels within
wheels," as many suppose; he used it,
truly, but the idea is from the Bible
(Ezekiel X, 10). Another Biblical expression,
which would hardly be recognized as
such at first sight, is "the skin of my
teeth" (Job XIX, 20). We are indebted to
Cervantes for the proverb, "Honesty is
the best policy" (Don Quixote, part 2,
chapter 33), while the familiar phrase
"Diamond cut diamond" is due to Ford,
the author of "The Lover's Melancholy"
(act 1, scene 1).
Although Sheridan's well known character,
Mrs. Malaprop, did "own the soft
impeachment" ("The Rivals," act 5
scene 3), we must credit Shakespeare
with the origin of the saying that "comparisons
are odorous" (so frequently attirbuted
to that estimable lady), as he puts
these words int he mouth of Dogberry
("Much Ado About Nothing," act 3,
scene 5). Ben Jonson ("Tale of a Tub,"
act 4, scene 3) and Butler ("Hudibras,"
part 1, canto 1, line 821) both "smell a
rat," and Tusser, the author of "Five
Hundred Points of Good Husbandry," the
truism "Better late than never" is due -
Chambers' Journal.