Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THALASSA, by LOUISE SEYMOUR JONES First Line: In a faraway mist Last Line: Endlessly long. Subject(s): Sea; Ocean | ||||||||
In a faraway mist Of the world's first dawn The sea sang its name In a sibilant song To the silver sands And the rainbow rifts As it flung pearl bubbles On deep green drifts Of seething waters And sucking spume, As it murmured beneath The ocean's boom; In roaring waves I can chant without fear My syllabic sign, For no ear may hear The voice of the sea In the sea's own song -- "Thalassa...Thalassa..." Endlessly long. But a young Greek god, As he passed one day, Heard the sea tell its name In a rondelay Of lashing surf and Lilting grace, And he wrote it down On the sea's wet face. In a Triton's conch, He carried home The measured refrain He had caught from the foam, While its musical accents Forever beat In the Attic rhythm Of epic feet To be heard in the tides, Till Earth's tale is told Through summer's heat In winter's cold, The name of the sea Is the sea's own song -- "Thalassa...Thalassa..." Endlessly long. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HALL OF OCEAN LIFE by JOHN HOLLANDER JULY FOURTH BY THE OCEAN by ROBINSON JEFFERS BOATS IN A FOG by ROBINSON JEFFERS CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE FIGUREHEAD by LEONIE ADAMS VICTOR RAFOLSKI ON ART by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |
|