Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BUCOLIC COMEDY: WHEN THE SAILOR, by EDITH SITWELL Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When the sailor left the seas Last Line: "or dew too fair for flower to weep." | ||||||||
WHEN the sailor left the seas They swayed like June's thick-leaved trees; The winds seemed only nightingales That sang so sweetly leafy tales Of rustic vows among deep leaves, -- Of Thisbe's love, how Priam grieves. The sailor stumps his wooden leg In shady lanes where he must beg, Till skies shone like the fields he knew, -- Golden with buttercups and dew; Then, slightly drunk, he sees an Inn Beckon him to step within. The parlour runs on feathered feet Bird-like, "Neptune, thee we greet," It cries; the flames, an albatross, Float on blue air like waves that toss, Bird-like shriek, "The sea floats still Just above the window-sill!" "No, it is June's thick blue trees." Heeding not the sound of these Across the bar, through silver spray Of the sweet and blossomed may, Leaned the Circean landlady, With her dark locks leafy shady, And eyes that seemed the dancing sound Of waves upon enchanted ground. "Did you batter down Troy's wall, -- (Silver hawthorn trees grown tall), Did you beg the Khan for mercy, Did you meet the lady Circe?" "She is changing like the sea . . . Shadow, like a lovely lady With an elegant footfall, Never seemed so lovely; all Her airs were beautiful as sleep, Or dew too fair for flower to weep." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BUCOLIC COMEDY: EARLY SPRING by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: FLEECING TIME by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: FOX TROT by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: KING COPHETUA AND THE BEGGAR MAID by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: SERENADE by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: SPINNING SONG by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: SPRING by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: THE BEAR by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: THE DOLL by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: THE FOX; FOR ANN PEARN by EDITH SITWELL BUCOLIC COMEDY: WHY by EDITH SITWELL ELEGY: THE GHOST WHOSE LIPS WERE WARM; FOR GEOFFREY GORER by EDITH SITWELL |
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