Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BEACHCOMBER, by MILDRED DOSCH BANTA


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BEACHCOMBER, by                    
First Line: He had not always meant to be
Last Line: When better talents you could give?
Subject(s): Ambition; Beachcombers; Fate; Destiny


He had not always meant to be
Just a Beachcomber by the sea;
Threadbare trousers rolled to his knees
Exposing legs all coppery;
Judged mad by those who carry keys
For unlocking their properties.

'Twas a shovel, a sieve, and loot
That held him bound by hand and foot
To this sad life so dissolute.
Thus he was destined just to be
An old Beachcomber by the sea
A-digging sand and living free.

When destiny changed his career,
It drove ambition from his heart;
It dulled his soul, bade hope depart;
It gave the world to him to roam,
Always seeking a transient home
And the shore-line loot far and near.

Takes six shovels to fill his sieve,
He lifts them from the cool damp sands
And, as the grains fall through in mounds,
Picks out the loot with his bare hands,
And throws the dregs to leveled grounds,
Seeks again what the sands will give.

Oh Destiny! What means this dole?
Why steal ambition from his soul,
Hand to him a Beachcomber's role,
Letting a shovel, loot, and sieve
Befog the life that he should live,
When better talents you could give?





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net