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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE 'DISASTER' by JOHN COWPER POWYS

First Line: WITHOUT RUDDER, WITHOUT SAIL
Last Line: LOST -- EXULTANT, DESOLATE!
Subject(s): DISASTERS; NIGHT; SAILING & SAILORS; SEA; SOUL; STORMS; WIND; BEDTIME; OCEAN;

Without rudder, without sail
Drifts my soul, the brig @3Disaster,@1
And the madness of the gale
Takes the place of mate or master!

Covered is its ghostly keel
With sea-slime, sea-weed, sea-crust;
And its bulkheads groan and reel;
And its bolts are caked with rust.

Storm-tossed sea-gulls phantom-white
On the spars of the @3Disaster@1
Scream while the great winds of night
Drive the derelict still faster.

And the drowned men floating deep
Leagues beneath that churning sea,
Mutter in their careless sleep,
"The brig @3Disaster@1 goes merrily!"

And the brig @3Disaster@1 drives right on,
Without captain, without mate,
Top-sails, bowsprit, compass gone,
Lost -- exultant, desolate!



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