DEEP in an ore-boat's hold Where great-bulked boilers loom And yawning mouths of fire Irradiate the gloom, I saw half-naked men Made thralls to flame and steam, Whose bodies, dripping sweat, Shone with an oily gleam. There, all the sullen night, While waves boomed overhead And smote the lurching ship, The ravenous fires they fed; They did not think it brave: They even dared to joke! ... I saw them light their pipes And puff calm rings of smoke! ... I saw a Passer sprawl Over his load of coal— At which a Fireman laughed Until it shook his soul: @3All this in a hollow shell Whose half-submergèd form On Lake Superior tossed 'Mid rushing hills of storm!@1 | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPECIAL EFFECTS by JAMES GALVIN STUDY FOR A GEOGRAPHICAL TRAIL; 5. MARYLAND by CLARENCE MAJOR SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: EDITH CONANT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS HOMAGE TO SEXTUS PROPERTIUS: 11 by EZRA POUND |