Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


FISHERMEN (THE JERSEY COAST) by HARRY HIBBARD KEMP

First Line: THEY STAND AS STILL AS SHAPES IN BRONZE
Last Line: THE CRUSH AND ROAR OF MODERN LIFE—AND CHRIST IN GALILEE!
Subject(s): FISH & FISHING; NEW JERSEY; SEASHORE; ANGLERS; BEACH; COAST; SHORE;

THEY stand as still as shapes in bronze, great-bodied, pipe in mouth;
A slant-stacked steamer trails the sky with smoke, against the South;
Far out they watch the toiling tides that lift in crests of foam,
Alert to glimpse the rippled stir where schools of bluefish roam;
They seldom move, they seldom break the fancy of the eye
That makes them seem a common part of earth and sea and sky. ...
A space beyond, the bathing folk along a sandstrip run,
And pasty-visaged city groups slouch shaded from the sun,—
And, of a sudden, as in dream, on either hand I see
The crush and roar of modern life—and Christ in Galilee!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net