Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SHIPS OF GLOU'STER, by RUTH HORNBROOK First Line: Decadent ships of brash display Last Line: Come slanting portward, home. Subject(s): Sailing & Sailors; Ships & Shipping; Seamen; Sails | ||||||||
Decadent ships of brash display Gilt ships where men may dance They sail the sea and feel no spray; Breast storms and take no chance; And they have cowed the sea's wild way, Its perilous romance, Its challenging horizons gray, With artful dominance. 'Twas courage of a sterner sort That laid the ocean trails; And watching these flip ships cavort Immune, where death prevails, Choking the winds with smoke for sport, I thank the god of gales For the valiant ships of Glou'ster port That still tread seas with sails. Great-hearted mariners they are That Glou'ster merchants plant On their Glou'ster ships, like cord and spar Of fibre adamant. They know the lore of the Guiding Star And they stand a-deck aslant When winds start landsmen's prayers afar, As other sailors can't. They hie them not to cushioned cells To parry winds with wires, When tempests rack the buoy bells And carve the sea in spires. Their fray is where the wild sail swells In sight of all defiers And face to face with tumult; else They were not like their sires. Norse souls, surviving epic graves, These Glou'ster men imbrue Norse souls who clenched the winds and waves To be their retinue; Sea Mastersnever flaccid slaves To button, switch and screw Base ruse, unmanning what it saves Their sons are like them too. Oh, Dick, my sailor, browned and brined, With salt mist in his hair, Says nought's so sorry, to his mind, As landsmen crowding there When men may wing like wisps of wind Outleaguing shuffling care; And past the risk-tanged verges find What space God has to spare. But sweet tho' these sea-spannings be For those who crave to roam, Most blest the hour for folk like me Who wait for them to come, When Glou'ster brigs, with sails flung free, And smashing waves to foam Come slanting portward up the sea Come slanting portward, home. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SAILS OF MURMUR by ANSELM HOLLO THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE TOM BOWLING ['S EPITAPH] by CHARLES DIBDIN HOW'S MY BOY? by SYDNEY THOMPSON DOBELL LOVE AT SEA by THEOPHILE GAUTIER DEAR OLD DICK by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |
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