I SWAYED upon the gaudy stern The butt-end of a steering-oar, And saw wherever I could turn A crowd upon a shore. And though I would have hushed the crowd, There was no mother's son but said, 'What is the figure in a shroud Upon a gaudy bed?' And after running at the brim Cried out upon that thing beneath -- It had such dignity of limb -- By the sweet name of Death. Though I'd my finger on my lip, What could I but take up the song? And running crowd and gaudy ship Cried out the whole night long, Crying amid the glittering sea, Naming it with ecstatic breath, Because it had such dignity, By the sweet name of Death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN THE CHURCHYARD AT CAMBRIDGE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW HOMAGE TO SEXTUS PROPERTIUS: 6 by EZRA POUND EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 10. BLIND LOVE by PHILIP AYRES THE RING AND THE BOOK: BOOK 11. GUIDO by ROBERT BROWNING THIRD EPISTLE TO JOHN LAPRAIK by ROBERT BURNS JULIET by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE ST. AUGUSTINE by RALPH WALDO EMERSON REUNION by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER SAND & SPRAY: SEA-SYMPHONY. 4. THE CALM by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER |