Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE OLD SHIP-YARD, by EDWARD NOYES POMEROY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE OLD SHIP-YARD, by                    
First Line: The ship-yard that I knew so well
Last Line: The voiceless yard, the vacant stream.
Subject(s): Memory; Pilgrimages & Pilgrims; Ships - Abandoning Of


The ship-yard that I knew so well
Lies sepulchered below the hill;
Some strange enchantment on it fell,
The mallet and the ax to still.

And after many and many a year,
I stand by its neglected grave,
The noises of the past to hear
And see the Pilgrim take the wave;

For launching-day is here again
With throngs, and cheers and hearts elate;
The tide, as punctual as then,
Is brimming now and will not wait.

The shores and spurs are knocked away;
The people, motionless at gaze;
The masts, and trees and buildings sway;
The bark is gliding from her ways.

The flags are snapping in the sky
And on her decks, from side to side,
The line is rushing, with the cry
Of "Roll her, roll her," ringing wide.

The mimic waves that curl and break
Repeat the murmur of the main;
Whose winds and waters wait to make
The joy of the occasion vain.

By night and day, by day and night
She sailed to meet the rolling rack;
She vanished out of mortal sight,
And only now her wraith comes back.

Released by the relenting sea,
From mist and murk and sea birds' scream,
To people, as of old, for me
The voiceless yard, the vacant stream.





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