Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DOCK RATS, by MARIANNE MOORE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DOCK RATS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: There are human beings who seem to regard
Last Line: Most interesting thing in the world.
Subject(s): Rats


THERE are human beings who seem to regard the place as craftily
as we do—who seem to feel that it is a good place to come
home to. On what a river; wide—twinkling like a chopped sea under some
of the finest shipping in the

world: the square-rigged four-rigged four-master, the liner, the battleship like

the two-
thirds submerged section of an iceberg; the tug
dipping and pushing, the bell striking as it comes; the steam yacht, lying
like a new made arrow on the

stream; the ferry-boat—a head assigned, one to each compartment, making
a row of chessmen set for play. When the wind is from the east,
the smell is of apples, of hay; the aroma increased and decreased
as the wind changes;

of rope, of mountain leaves for florists; as from the west,
it is aromatic of salt. Occasionally a parrakeet
from Brazil, arrives clasping and clawing; or a monkey—tail and feet
in readiness for an over-

ture; all arms and tail; how delightful! There is the sea, moving the bulk-
head with its horse strength; and the multiplicity of rudders
and propellors; the signals, shrill, questioning, peremptory, diverse;
the wharf cats and the barge dogs; it

is easy to overestimate the value of such things. One does
not live in such a place from motives of expediency
but because to one who has been accustomed to it, shipping is the
most interesting thing in the world.





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