Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE TITANIC, by BRAND WHITLOCK First Line: And this, the dark ironic spirit mocked Last Line: And in the hour of failure, how to die. Subject(s): Disasters; Ships & Shipping; Shipwrecks; Titanic (ship) | ||||||||
"And this," the dark Ironic Spirit mocked As it beheld the proud new lofty ship Upon its westering way across the sea, "This is thy latest, greatest miracle, The triumph of thy science, art and all That skill thou'st learnt since forth the Norsemen fared Across these waters in the cockle shells, In dodging back and forth 'twixt storm and sea, Until at last, in this thy master work, Thou'dst go in safety and in pride, and boast Meanwhile of thine unparalleled achievement, Thy victory o'er my wanton and whim! Ho, Little Man, behold! I'd not waste e'en A tempest on thy paragon, but thus, Upon its first glad, confident adventure, With but a cast-off fragment of my store Of powerthus to the bottom of the seas For evermore, with this thy latest marvel And with thee! Ho! Ho!" The awful laugh Rand through the dreadful reaches of the Void. But lo! The calm and all-sufficient answer Of our intrepid Northern race! With lips Drawn tight, they look with clear, dry eyes on doom., And so confront the end, there in the night That was to have for them no pitying dawn. (Their kind alone of all intelligence Feels pity.) "The women and the children first. We stay." No cry, no whimpering; and there, Up there, upon the dark, mysterious bridge, The grizzled captain, chief of all those victims Of Its sublime, stupendous, bitter joke, But the exemplar of that race which knows How to aspire, achieve, and dare Its wrath, And in the hour of failure, how to die. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AFTER THE TITANIC by DEREK MAHON THE CONVERGENCE OF THE TWAIN; LINES ON LOSS OF THE TITANIC by THOMAS HARDY DARK PROPHECY: I SING OF SHINE by ETHERIDGE KNIGHT THE TITANIC by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE TITANIC by SAMUEL VALENTINE COLE RAGTIME! by ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE THE TITANIC by HUDDIE LEDBETTER CONTRA MORTEM: THE ECSTASY by HAYDEN CARRUTH |
|