Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, VAIN COUNSEL, by MARIAN STORM


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

VAIN COUNSEL, by                    
First Line: She is very foolish if she loves a sailor
Last Line: But she says she never meant to; it happened unbeknown.
Subject(s): Advice; Love - Complaints; Sailing & Sailors


She is very foolish if she loves a sailor.
In the night a little wind can blow her lids apart,
Or if a norther rattles like a crazy man at the shutters
The hours of his anger drive straight upon her heart.

She is very foolish. Can she read the paper?
The only news she looks for is "The Winds at Sea."
How was it today in the Gulf, the Straits, the Passage?
Does a hurricane wait crouching on the course where he will be?

There is no more peace for her -- she has given the sea a hostage.
Perhaps she sees a petal on a brooklet in the park
Tossing in jeopardy: she hears without a reason
The horror of a ship's bell clattered in the dark.

She is very foolish. Men there are aplenty
Who carry their umbrellas and like a cosy life.
Why should her heart cry seaward, like a petrel, like a shearwater?
So she never can become a calm, contented wife.

Shepherds, charcoal burners, mountaineers and sailors
All have watched the sun rise on strange sights alone.
She is very foolish if she loves a sailor,
But she says she never meant to; it happened unbeknown.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net