Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO THE IMMORTAL MEMORY OF THE HALIBUT ON WHICH I DINED, by WILLIAM COWPER Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Where hast thou floated, in what seas pursued Last Line: To feed a bard, and to be praised in verse. Subject(s): Halibut; Sea; Ocean | ||||||||
WHERE hast thou floated, in what seas pursued Thy pastime? when wast thou an egg new-spawned, Lost in th' immensity of ocean's waste? Roar as they might, the overbearing winds That rocked the deep, thy cradle, thou wast safe-- And in thy minikin and embryo state, Attached to the firm leaf of some salt weed, Didst outlive tempests, such as wrung and racked The joints of many a stout and gallant bark, And whelmed them in the unexplored abyss, Indebted to no magnet and no chart, Nor under guidance of the polar fire, Thou wast a voyager on many coasts, Grazing at large in meadows submarine, Where flat Batavia just emerging peeps Above the brine,--where Caledonia's rocks Beat back the surge,--and where Hibernia shoots Her wondrous causeway far into the main. --Wherever thou hast fed, thou little thought'st. And I not more, that I should feed on thee. Peace therefore, and good health, and much good fish, To him who sent thee! and success, as oft As it descends into the billowy gulf, To the same drag that caught thee!--Fare thee well! Thy lot thy brethren of the slimy fin Would envy, could they know that thou wast doomed To feed a bard, and to be praised in verse. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HALL OF OCEAN LIFE by JOHN HOLLANDER JULY FOURTH BY THE OCEAN by ROBINSON JEFFERS BOATS IN A FOG by ROBINSON JEFFERS CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE FIGUREHEAD by LEONIE ADAMS A COMPARISON by WILLIAM COWPER |
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