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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MID-OCEAN, by WILLIAM ROSE BENET Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Leaning on the rail, looking at the lead Last Line: Atom in the void, on the western sea! Subject(s): Sailing & Sailors; Sea; Steamboats; Travel; Water; Seamen; Sails; Ocean; Journeys; Trips | |||
Leaning on the rail, looking at the lead, There was blue water under us, astern and ahead, A million miles behind us and a million miles before Water blue as indigo, that never knew a shore! Where was the skyline, that shining silver thread? Blue with blue was blended. Sea and sky were wed. Pulsing through that blue abyss Time and Thought were dead. Steam? We buzzed suspended in Infinity instead. Throbbed the silly engines. Joked the silly crew. "Sails," with palm and needle, swore—as sailors do. "Chips" said, "Well, we've crossed it! We're coastin' down the hill!" Liar! In that azure vault we hung stock-still. Never was I so at peace, never so afraid. Like the timeless time it was before the world was made. Blue oblivion, largely lit, smiled and smiled at me,— Atom in the void, on the Western Sea! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON |
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