Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ODES I, 14. THE SHIP OF STATE, by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ODES I, 14. THE SHIP OF STATE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh ship! New billows sweep thee out
Last Line: That gird those glittering cyclades.
Alternate Author Name(s): Horace
Subject(s): Sailing & Sailors; Sea; Ships & Shipping; Ocean


OH Ship! new billows sweep thee out
Seaward. What wilt thou? Hold the port, be stout
See'st not thy mast
How rent by stiff Southwestern blast?

Thy side, of rowers how forlorn?
Thine hull, with groaning yards, with rigging torn,
Can ill sustain
The fierce, and ever fiercer main;

Thy gods, no more than sails entire,
From whom yet once thy need might aid require,
Of Pontic Pine,
The first of woodland, stocks is thine,

Yet race and name are but as dust.
Not painted sterns give storm-tost seamen trust;
Unless thou dare
To be the sport of storms, beware.

O fold at best a weary weight,
A yearning care and constant strain of late,
O shun the seas
That gird those glittering Cyclades.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net