Classic and Contemporary Poetry
KILMENY (A SONG OF THE TRAWLERS), by ALFRED NOYES Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Dark, dark lay the drifters against the red west Last Line: And nobody knew where kilmeny had been. Subject(s): Ships & Shipping; World War I; First World War | ||||||||
DARK, dark lay the drifters against the red West, As they shot their long meshes of steel overside; And the oily green waters were rocking to rest When Kilmeny went out, at the turn of the tide; And nobody knew where that lassie would roam, For the magic that called her was tapping unseen. It was well-night a week ere Kilmeny came home, And nobody knew where Kilmeny had been. She'd a gun at her bow that was Newcastle's best, And a gun at her stern that was fresh from the Clyde, And a secret her skipper had never confessed, Not even at dawn, to his newly-wed bride; And a wireless that whispered above, like a gnome, The laughter of London, the boasts of Berlin. . . . O, it may have been mermaids that lured her from home; But nobody knew where Kilmeny had been. It was dark when Kilmeny came home from her quest With her bridge dabbled red where her skipper had died; But she moved like a bride with a rose at her breast, And Well done Kilmeny! the Admiral cried. Now, at sixty-four fathom a conger may come And nose at the bones of a drowned submarine; But -- late in the evening Kilmeny came home, And nobody knew where Kilmeny had been. There's a wandering shadow that stares at the foam, Though they sing all the night to old England, their queen. Late, late in the evening, Kilmeny came home; And nobody knew where Kilmeny had been. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...D'ANNUNZIO by ERNEST HEMINGWAY 1915: THE TRENCHES by CONRAD AIKEN TO OUR PRESIDENT by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE HORSES by KATHARINE LEE BATES CHILDREN OF THE WAR by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE U-BOAT CREWS by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE RED CROSS NURSE by KATHARINE LEE BATES WAR PROFITS by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE UNCHANGEABLE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN MOUNTAIN LAUREL by ALFRED NOYES |
|