THE sleek sea, gorged and sated, basking lies; The cruel creature fawns and blinks and purrs; And almost we forget what fangs are hers, And trust for once her emerald-golden eyes; Though haply on the morrow she shall rise And summon her infernal ministers, And charge her everlasting barriers, With wild white fingers snatching at the skies. So, betwixt Peace and War, man's life is cast; Yet hath he dreamed of purest Peace at last Shepherding all the nations ev'n as sheep. The inconstant, moody ocean shall as soon, At the cold dictates of the bloodless moon, Swear an eternity of halcyon sleep. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SLEEPY HOLLOW by WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING (1817-1901) UNDERWOODS: BOOK 1: 8. TO MINNIE (WITH A HAND-GLASS) by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON THE ART OF PRESERVING HEALTH: BOOK 1. AIR by JOHN ARMSTRONG LIFE'S PATTERN by VERDA BORISFIELD WHILE LOVELINESS GOES BY by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH BRITANNIA'S PASTORALS: BOOK 2. THE SECOND SONG by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |