O sister, Flokar's ship is in! Keep close and tend the fire, Or, when you @3have@1 to go outside, Put off your gems and robes of pride And walk in mean attire. Vain are the fragile webs you spin So hard a heart as his to win. His banner flaunts the raven sign; His deck is red from slaughter; His single sail is black as pitch; His ship is like an angry witch That haunts the North Sea Water. His men are wild with lust and wine; Like hungry wolves they prowl and whine. Why dream you of his young renown, His lineage, proud and olden? No wife will share his pirate hoard Or lay her lips against his sword Or comb his tresses golden. He sails in hope that he may drown Where once his earlier ship went down. He lost his dearest treasures then. Beneath the ireful billow, The phantom of a blue-eyed girl Has decked her couch with kelp and pearl And sings the song of willow. Foe will he be to gods and men Until he feels her arms again. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ODE TO SPRING by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD THE TRIUMPHS OF OWEN: A FRAGMENT by THOMAS GRAY DRINKING ODE by ALCAEUS OF MYTILENE DAWN ON THE HILLS (FROM A HOTEL WINDOW) by LILLIAN ATCHERSON STANZAS: IN THE MANNER OF SPENSER by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD THE WEDDING DAY; OR, THE BUCCANEER'S CURSE; A FAMILY LEGEND by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 50. MY LOVE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |