Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ARCTIC, by JOHN BANISTER TABB


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ARCTIC, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Is it a shroud or bridal veil
Last Line: Above a warmer grave?
Alternate Author Name(s): Father Tabb
Subject(s): Arctic


Is it a shroud or bridal veil
That hides it from our sight,
The lonely sepulchre of day
Or banquet-hall of night?

Are those the lights of revelry
That glimmer o'er the deep
Or flashes of a funeral pyre
Above the corpse of sleep?

Beyond those peaks impregnable
Of everlasting snow
One star, a steadfast beacon, burns
To guard the coast below.

Whence come the ghostly galleons
The pirate sun to brave
And furl the shadowy flag of death
Above a warmer grave?





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