Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, OLD SALT KOSSABONE, by WALT WHITMAN


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OLD SALT KOSSABONE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Far back, related on my mother's side,
Last Line: Dutch kossabone, old salt, related on my mother's side, far back.


Far back, related on my mother's side,
Old Salt Kossabone, I'll tell you how he died:
(Had been a sailor all his life -- was nearly 90 -- lived
with his married grandchild, Jenny;
House on a hill, with view of bay at hand, and distant
cape, and stretch to open sea;)
The last of afternoons, the evening hours, for many a year
his regular custom,
In his great arm chair by the window seated,
(Sometimes, indeed, though half the day,)
Watching the coming, going of the vessels, he mutters to
himself -- And now the close of all:
One struggling outbound brig, one day, baffled for long --
cross-tides and much wrong going,
At last at nightfall strikes the breeze aright, her whole
luck veering,
And swiftly bending round the cape, the darkness proudly
entering, cleaving, as he watches,
"She's free -- she's on her destination" -- these the last
words -- when Jenny came, he sat there dead,
Dutch Kossabone, Old Salt, related on my mother's side, far back.





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