Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SHIP OF STATE; A SENTIMENT, by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES



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THE SHIP OF STATE; A SENTIMENT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The ship of state! Above her skies are blue
Last Line: And guide the honest hand that holds her wheel!
Subject(s): Patriotism


THE Ship of State! above her skies are blue,
But still she rocks a little, it is true,
And there are passengers whose faces white
Show they don't feel as happy as they might;
Yet on the whole her crew are quite content,
Since its wild fury the typhoon has spent,
And willing, if her pilot thinks it best,
To head a little nearer south by west.
And this they feel: the ship came too near wreck,
In the long quarrel for the quarter-deck,
Now when she glides serenely on her way, --
The shallows past where dread explosives lay, --
The stiff obstructive's churlish game to try:
Let sleeping dogs and still torpedoes lie!
And so I give you all the Ship of State;
Freedom's last venture is her priceless freight;
God speed her, keep her, bless her, while she steers
Amid the breakers of unsounded years;
Lead her through danger's paths with even keel,
And guide the honest hand that holds her wheel!





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