Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DOOM FERRY, by ARTHUR THOMAS QUILLER-COUCH Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Boatman, have they crossed? Not all Last Line: Dabbling, at my cool dead ease there. Alternate Author Name(s): Q; Quiller-couch, A. T. Subject(s): Boats; Jealousy | ||||||||
BOATMAN, have they crossed? 'Not all: The inn, there, hath an upper chamber, And a window in the wall Where the small white roses clamber. 'Many shelves run round the room; On a shelf, and no man near them, Two are talking low i' the gloom From the trellis' foot may'st hear them.' Who are they? 'At dawn they came By the Passage, calling Over! She the corpse of a comely dame, And the man, methinks, her lover.' Boatman, land and climb the stair: By the scented window-boxes Lower me that loving pair Here among the crimson phloxes. Boatmen, is this honey-dew Dripping from the window-boxes? Nay, I cannot tell its hue Here against the crimson phloxes. Take a guinea and a groat: One in ale shall keep thee merry; Let the other fee the boat Tiding these across the ferry. Take this purse: it shall persuade Him who digs i' th' acre yonder Them to bed with a cunning spade Cheek by jowl, no turtles fonder. Cheek by jowl, and heart by heart, But a thought in either buried, That shall push them wide apart Wide enough ere a third be ferried. So, between, my body I'll thrust, Laughing, straightening out my knees there, Either hand in a little dust Dabbling, at my cool dead ease there. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOG AFTER LOVE by YEHUDA AMICHAI TOGETHER IN GREECE by LINDA GREGG THE JEALOUS LOVERS by DONALD HALL WOMEN THEY COULD KILL FOR by PETER JOHNSON GENEVIEVE AND ALEXANDRA (2) by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON SONNET (6) by GEORGE SANTAYANA SAGE COUNSEL by ARTHUR THOMAS QUILLER-COUCH |
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