Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LAST BUCCANEER, by THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LAST BUCCANEER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The winds were yelling, the waves were swelling
Last Line: Of the flag of the last buccaneer.
Alternate Author Name(s): Macaulay, 1st Baron
Subject(s): Sea; Ocean


THE winds were yelling, the waves were swelling,
The sky was black and drear,
When the crew with eyes of flame brought the ship without a name
Alongside the last Buccaneer.

"Whence flies your sloop full sail before so full a gale,
When all others drive bare on the seas?
Say, come ye from the shore of the holy Salvador,
Or the gulf of the rich Caribees?"

"From a shore no search hath found, from a gulf no line can sound,
Without rudder or needle we steer;
Above, below, our bark dies the sea-fowl and the shark,
As we fly by the last Buccaneer.

"To-night there shall be heard on the rocks of Cape de Verde
A loud crash, and a louder roar;
And to-morrow shall the deep, with a heavy moaning, sweep
The corpses and wreck to the shore."

The stately ship of Clyde securely now may ride
In the breath of the citron shades;
And Severn's towering mast securely now flies fast,
Through the sea of the balmy Trades.

From Saint Jago's wealthy port, from Havana's royal fort,
The seaman goes forth without fear;
For since that stormy night not a mortal hath had sight
Of the flag of the last Buccaneer.





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