Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LORD ARNALDOS, by JAMES ELROY FLECKER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LORD ARNALDOS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The strangest of adventures
Last Line: "who sail away with me."
Subject(s): Sailing & Sailors; Seamen; Sails


The strangest of adventures,
That happen by the sea,
Befell to Lord Arnaldos
On the Evening of St. John;
For he was out a-hunting --
A huntsman bold was he! --
When he beheld a little ship
And close to land was she.
Her cords were all of silver,
Her sails of cramasy;
And he who sailed the little ship
Was singing at the helm:
The waves stood still to hear him,
The wind was soft and low;
The fish who dwell in darkness
Ascended through the sea,
And all the birds in heaven
Flew down to his mast-tree.
Then spake the Lord Arnaldos,
(Well shall you hear his words! )
"Tell me for God's sake, sailor,
What song may that song be?"
The sailor spake in answer,
And answer thus made he:
"I only tell my song to those
Who sail away with me."





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