Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BOAT SONG, by THEOPHILE GAUTIER



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BOAT SONG, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell me, lovely girl
Last Line: "forelands of the heart."
Alternate Author Name(s): Theo, Le Bon
Subject(s): Boats; Love


TELL me, lovely girl,
Whither would you go?
For the sails unfurl
And the breezes blow!

I've an ivory scull,
Streams of silken flags,
Golden-ruddered hull
Thro' the water drags;

And for ballast weight
An orange round and light;
And my little mate
Is a seraph mite;

And the sail that swings
Is together sewn
From the down of wings
Cherubim have known.

Tell me, lovely girl,
Whither would you go?
For the sails unfurl
And the breezes blow!

Would you to the North
Where the Baltic raves
Say, or would you forth
Over tropic waves?

Where the bergs are chill
Pluck the flower of snow,
Or where fierce suns spill
Cull the flower below?

Tell me, lovely girl,
Whither would you go?
For the sails unfurl
And the breezes blow!

"Drive for me your keel,—"
So the girl did sigh—
"To the land o' leal
Where no love may die."

"That's a coast, my dear,
Not upon the chart
Of the bays and drear
Forelands of the heart."





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