Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RETURN, by ELIZABETH S. NOBLE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RETURN, by                    
First Line: He sailed upon the misted sea
Last Line: Her arms outstretched across the sands.
Subject(s): Ships & Shipping


He sailed upon the misted sea,
Upon the sea as night came down.
He saw the curving line of cliffs
Beyond the distant lights of town.

She watched upon that fading shore
The ship's lights vanish, one by one.
Unmindful of the dark, she watched
An empty sea till night was done.

Ships came and went. No sail was his.
The memory of his boat grew dim;
But still she kept her patient watch
And waited through the years for him.

"She's mad!" the thoughtless townfolk cried.
"The storms have claimed him. He is dead."
She heard the careless speech and smiled.
"He will come home again," she said.

One moonless night, the townfolk saw
An ancient ship within the bay.
Dank seaweed draped her shattered masts;
Her rotted sails were torn away.

A moment seen, then lost in mist,
Strange visitor from unknown lands.
At dawn they found the woman dead,
Her arms outstretched across the sands.





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