Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SHIPS AND STARS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES

Poet Analysis

First Line: AS SOON AS I BEGAN TO NAME A STAR
Last Line: ACROSS THE HEAVENS, WHOSE NAMES I WILL NOT KNOW.
Subject(s): HEAVEN; STARS; PARADISE;

As soon as I began to name a star,
Or judge a ship by rigging, mast or spar,
I, seeing more with eyes than with my mind,
Had fears that I would soon go beauty blind.
But now, not caring if the ship that's seen
Is schooner-rigged, a barque or brigantine,
I look beyond my eyes to where she rides
Under a rainbow, beautiful; or glides
Before the wind, on one side of her belly.
And as young lambs or sheep all white and woolly,
I see the stars in one flock nibbling go
Across the Heavens, whose names I will not know.



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