Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MIDNIGHT WATCH AT SEA, by HENRY JAMES (1843-1916)


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MIDNIGHT WATCH AT SEA, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dang! Dang! Two bells by the ship's clock
Last Line: On the midnight watch.
Alternate Author Name(s): James, Henry, Jr.
Subject(s): Sea; Ships & Shipping; Ocean


Dang! Dang! two bells by the ship's clock.
Alone in the darkness of the pilot house,
Except for the binnacle's gleam
On the compass card,
The A.B.'s iron hands grip the spokes
Of heavy oak;
Now to starboard, now to port,
Steady the helm, and meet the sea.
Thus he wrestles with the wheel
Through the four dark hours of the Midnight Watch.

A dash of white on a mountain of blackness,
Froth-peaked Cotopachis.
Feet wide apart, head forward, muscle taut,
The helmsman needs no second thought
To guide his every motion.
A swash, a thud, a hollow rumble,
Rattle of chains, squeak of blocks,
Whir of screw, rattle of bolts,
Crash of stanchions, strongbacks, deadlights. . .
Quietude
Except for swash of sluggish water
Swirling fore and aft along the well deck.

"That's a bad one; threw me off four points to port."
Reeling, lunging, rolling, bucking,
Meeting every move with helm,
One eye on the needle,
And the other on shadows of grey and black,
Silent and wary,
Watching their prey, when they might find
The man at the wheel asleep at his post
In the Stygian pilot-house
On the Midnight Watch.





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