Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HIGH TIDE ON THE VICTORIA EMBANKMENT: 2. THE GREAT ROAD, by MARGARET LOUISA WOODS Poet's Biography First Line: It came up the narrow seas, as a flock it gathered thy / children Last Line: "what bearest thou?""and the keel makes answer, ""life." Alternate Author Name(s): Woods, Mrs. Margaret Louisa Bradley Subject(s): Life; Victoria, Queen Of England (1819-1901) | ||||||||
It came up the Narrow Seas, as a flock it gathered thy children, It ushered in thy ships, Where away from here, from the endless tumult and darkness, Serene and apart under the wide arch of Heaven, Stands thy royal gateway, runs the road of the Sea. Vaunt no more over London your proud streets, O ye cities! The road of the Sea is hers, even as the streets and avenues Her towers look on, the road meet for her mighty procession. No footfall rings there, Nor the perpetual rumour of an eddying crowd; It is spread as with silk, it is paved with the perfect silence of waters Or their large primordial sound. Along it like palaces, Like gardens ranged is the coast; the way follows it westward. Yonder westward it opens, gathering in from the Ocean All thy ships, there where the wind-worn bastions And crumbled towers of Cornwall darken over the Atlantic, Where southward wild Finistère flashes on the night. Out of the old adventure, the single battle of Ocean, Out of the wide lonely dazzle of water and air Or the Giant Wars of the waves they are gathered in; Long, rapidly fading streamers of smoke they multiply, Sail after sail they arise This way and that, and on each, intent with a new vigilance, The Captain walks alert and watches the narrowing road. And low chaplets of light he sees in the gradual evening Distantly burn, who beheld eve after eve but the stars Wheeling in a wide heaven Uncompanied, over the waste irresponsive sea. Lights of the great Sea Road, they brighten in long ranges, Lone challenging lights Out of invisible towers leap on the dark; Pierce it and pass, while ever behind them a phantom country Vaguely appears, and again hurrying sweeps into night. As lamps incessantly crowd and fly through the heart of the city, Feverish sparks, he beholds here majestic Pass without haste, without pause, lamps on the Road of the Sea. So the night he watches, driving through dim waters The dark garrulous keel; While ever the whispering water asks of the garrulous keel, "What bearest thou?"and the keel makes answer, "Life." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 1. 1887 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN THE WIDOW AT WINDSOR by RUDYARD KIPLING IDYLLS OF THE KING: DEDICATION by ALFRED TENNYSON IDYLLS OF THE KING: TO THE QUEEN by ALFRED TENNYSON TO THE QUEEN by ALFRED TENNYSON CROWNED AND WEDDED by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE YOUNG QUEEN by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING VICTORIA'S TEARS by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING VERSES ON THE QUEEN by THOMAS CAMPBELL |
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