Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE 'DISASTER', by JOHN COWPER POWYS Poet's Biography First Line: Without rudder, without sail Last Line: Lost -- exultant, desolate! Subject(s): Disasters; Night; Sailing & Sailors; Sea; Soul; Storms; Wind; Bedtime; Ocean | ||||||||
Without rudder, without sail Drifts my soul, the brig Disaster, And the madness of the gale Takes the place of mate or master! Covered is its ghostly keel With sea-slime, sea-weed, sea-crust; And its bulkheads groan and reel; And its bolts are caked with rust. Storm-tossed sea-gulls phantom-white On the spars of the Disaster Scream while the great winds of night Drive the derelict still faster. And the drowned men floating deep Leagues beneath that churning sea, Mutter in their careless sleep, "The brig Disaster goes merrily!" And the brig Disaster drives right on, Without captain, without mate, Top-sails, bowsprit, compass gone, Lost -- exultant, desolate! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HALL OF OCEAN LIFE by JOHN HOLLANDER JULY FOURTH BY THE OCEAN by ROBINSON JEFFERS BOATS IN A FOG by ROBINSON JEFFERS CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE FIGUREHEAD by LEONIE ADAMS |
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