Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MOONRISE ON THE ANTARCTIC, by WILLIAM SHARP


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MOONRISE ON THE ANTARCTIC, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The huge white icebergs silently
Last Line: Voyaging onward without sound.
Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona
Subject(s): Antarctica; Death; Moon; Sailing & Sailors; Dead, The


The huge white icebergs silently
Voyage with us through this lonely sea,
Noiseless and lifeless, yet they seem
Like haunted islands in a dream
Holding strange secrets that no one
May know and live. In the bright sun
They shine immeasurably fair,
Bluer than bluest summer air,
Or clear to the very heart with green
Pure light, or amethyst as seen
'Mid sunset-clouds -- but now they shine
With a cold gleam and have no sign
Of loveliness. The ship swings on,
Plunging 'mid surging seas whereon
Few vessels ever sail, and as
Slowly the long hours come and pass
The late moon rises cold and white,
And sends a flood of wintry light
Along the sweeping waves and round
Our black and sea-worn hull. A sound
Far off dies while it grows -- some seal
Long-drifted, frozen, waking but to feel
Death's grip. And now the spectral isles
Grow whiter, icier still, and seem
More hollow, with a strange weird gleam
As though some pale unreal fires
Consumed them to their utmost spires
Yet without flame or heat. And still
The moon doth rise, and seems to fill
Each berg anew with life: we sail
Upon a strange sad sea, where pale
And moonshine isles float all around,
Voyaging onward without sound.





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