Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SHINING SHIP by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY

First Line: ALL DAY I SEE THE SHIPS SAIL IN, THE SUN UPON THEIR SPARS
Last Line: OH, SHE'S THE SHIP FOR ME!
Subject(s): SAILING & SAILORS; SEA VOYAGES; SHIPS & SHIPPING;
ALL day I see the ships sail in, the sun upon their spars,
And silently at night they pass between me and the stars,
Oh, many, many ships there be,
From Biscay Bay and China Sea!
But never comes a ship for me,
Across the flooding bars.

All day I watch the ships sail out, so brave and gallantly;
And while I sleep they sail away, impatient for the sea,
Strange ways are theirs, where strange winds blow,
Strange islands loom and strange tides flow—
But round and round the world they go
And never wait for me.

One day a shining ship shall ride at anchor by the quay;
From her slow-furling sails shall shake the scents of Araby;
She bears no name, she cannot stay;
But on her decks I'll sail away,
To China Sea and Biscay Bay—
Oh, she's the ship for me!



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