|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE OLD SWIMMER, by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: I often wander on the beach
Last Line: Other swimmers will.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hall, Galway
Subject(s): Swimming & Swimmers
First Line: I often wander on the beach
Last Line: Other swimmers will.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hall, Galway
Subject(s): Swimming & Swimmers
I OFTEN wander on the beach
Where once, so brown of limb,
The biting air, the roaring surf
Summoned me to swim.
I see my old abundant youth
Where combers lean and spill,
And though I taste the foam no more
Other swimmers will.
Oh, good exultant strength to meet
The arching wall of green,
To break the crystal, swirl, emerge
Dripping, taut, and clean.
To climb the moving hilly blue,
To dive in ecstasy
And feel the salty chill embrace
Arm and rib and knee.
What brave and vanished laughter then
And tingling thighs to run,
What warm and comfortable sands
Dreaming in the sun.
The crumbling water spreads in snow,
The surf is hissing still,
And though I kiss the salt no more
Other swimmers will.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
NOW THE CHILDREN ARE OLD ENOUGH by ANDREW MOTION
STARING AT THE PACIFIC, AND SWIMMING IN IT by ALICIA SUSKIN OSTRIKER
THE SWIMMER by JOHN CROWE RANSOM
STILL ON WATER by KENNETH REXROTH
ANIMAL CRACKERS by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY