Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A REQUIEM FOR SOLDIERS LOST IN OCEAN TRANSPORTS, by HERMAN MELVILLE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A REQUIEM FOR SOLDIERS LOST IN OCEAN TRANSPORTS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: When, after storms that woodlands rue
Last Line: Round the lone spar where mid-sea surges pour.
Subject(s): American Civil War; Disasters; Shipwrecks; Soldiers; United States - History


When, after storms that woodlands rue,
To valleys comes atoning dawn,
The robins blithe their orchard-sports renew;
And meadow-larks, no more withdrawn,
Caroling fly in the languid blue;
The while, from many a hid recess,
Alert to partake the blessedness,
The pouring mites their airy dance pursue.
So, after ocean's ghastly gales,
When laughing light of hoyden morning breaks,
Every funny hider wakes --
From vaults profound swims up with glittering scales;
Through the delightsome sea he sails,
With shoals of shining tiny things
Frolic on every wave that flings
Against the prow its showery spray;
All creatures joying in the morn,
Save them forever from joyance torn,
Whose bark was lost where now the dolphins play;
Save them that by the fabled shore,
Down the pale stream are washed away,
Far to the reef of bones are borne;
And never revisits them the light,
Nor sight of long-sought land and pilot more;
Nor heed they now the lone bird's flight
Round the lone spar where mid-sea surges pour.






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