Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BECALMED, by ARTHUR PETERSON Poet's Biography First Line: On the equator / pauses the good ship Last Line: Rest finding never. Subject(s): Sailing & Sailors | ||||||||
1 On the equator Pauses the good ship In her flight southward. Useless her broad sails. Gone is the north-wind, Gone is the south-wind, Gone is the east-wind, Gone is the west-wind. Down from the zenith Pour the sun's arrows. Glassy the surface Of the vast ocean. Only the long swell Of the Pacific Rolls her to starboard, Rolls her to larboard, -- Rest she finds never. Even as a traveler Lost in the desert Scans the horizon, Watching for succor -- So doth the good ship Watch for the breezes, Waiting impatient, Longing for succor. 2 Rises before me Then a blest vision -- Earth, the All-Mother -- And, like Antaeus, I long for her presence. Homesick her child rocks Out on the salt seas. Earth loves the earth-born. O to lie happy, Supine on the green grass, Under the maples, Dreaming and listening To the birds singing, As in my boyhood! O to feel once more Mother Earth near me! That she might fold me Fast in her green arms! That I might rest there, Clasped in her bosom! 3 Visions celestial, Sounds beatific, Sights of the green earth, Chords of her music, Meadows and bird-songs, Mountains and forests, Gurgling of brooklets, Scents of the woodland, Vales Paradisic, Lowing of cattle, Farewell -- ah farewell! 4 Once more behold I, Calm-bound, the good ship; Hear her great main-sail Uselessly flapping; As on the long swell Of the Pacific Rolls she to starboard, Rolls she to larboard, Rest finding never. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EASTERN LONG ISLAND by MARVIN BELL SAILS OF MURMUR by ANSELM HOLLO LOST ABOARD U.S.S. 'GROWLER'; IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM HICKEY, 1944 by CHARLES OLSON THE LOVE POEMS OF MARICHIKO: 11 by KENNETH REXROTH THE LOVE POEMS OF MARICHIKO: 47 by KENNETH REXROTH A CLOUD FANCY by ARTHUR PETERSON |
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