HE rose at dawn and, fired with hope, Shot o'er the seething harbor-bar, And reach'd the ship and caught the rope, And whistled to the morning star. And while he whistled long and loud He heard a fierce mermaiden cry, 'O boy, tho' thou art young and proud, I see the place where thou wilt lie. 'The sands and yeasty surges mix In caves about the dreary bay, And on thy ribs the limpet sticks, And in thy heart the scrawl shall play.' 'Fool,' he answer'd, 'death is sure To those that stay and those that roam, But I will nevermore endure To sit with empty hands at home. 'My mother clings about my neck, My sisters crying, "Stay for shame;" My father raves of death and wreck, -- They are all to blame, they are all to blame. 'God help me! save I take my part Of danger on the roaring sea, A devil rises in my heart, Far worse than any death to me.' | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MOTHER'S HOPE by SAMUEL LAMAN BLANCHARD THE BLIND BOY by COLLEY CIBBER REUBEN BRIGHT by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 22 by ALFRED TENNYSON THE LIVING GOD by ABRAHAM IBN EZRA LETHE. A BALLAD by JAMES HAY BEATTIE WHO SEEKS THE KING by LARENE KING BLEECKER |