Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


FULL MOON by BRENDA DE BUTTS

First Line: HOW CAN I SLEEP WITH THE MOON AT THE FULL?
Last Line: ... THEN IN THE DAWNING COME SATISFIED HOME.
Subject(s): MOON; SAILING & SAILORS; SEAMEN; SAILS;

HOW can I sleep with the moon at the full?
How can I sleep with the tide on the flow?
Black are the rocks where the cross-currents pull
Racing and eddying down to Ardrow!

O were I out in a small open boat
Alone with the stars and the fathomless sea,
All the night long would I drift, would I float
Utterly lonely and utterly free!

All the night long would I joyfully steer
Guiding my boat through the moon-dappled foam
Till the dark hills should show suddenly clear . .
... Then in the dawning come satisfied home.



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