In robes of splendour once men saw thee leave Some dipping shore, borne on a swelling tide, And to the offing thus so proudly ride, While fancies for thy future they did weave. We find thee now,—not where far billows heave Round steaming prows, that sail the boundless main; But on this tideless flat, where thou hast lain A thing undone,—for which thy friends must grieve. Likewise, in quiet coves within life's bay Are stranded ones, who bring from us a tear, As we return to some glad golden day When their clean canvas caught the lifting cheer: In vain for them now blows the buoyant breeze That bids each flapping sail to try the seas. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ALTAR by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE QUESTION ANSWER'D by WILLIAM BLAKE A BORDER AFFAIR by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. ENGLAND'S DEAD by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS THE BELLS OF LYNN; HEARD AT NAHANT by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW IMITATIONS OF HORACE: ODE IV, 1 by ALEXANDER POPE PROMETHEUS UNBOUND: THE RED SEA by AESCHYLUS |