Beyond the rim of waters vast They saw her canvas gleam, And then the apparition passed Like an elusive dream. She vanished out of human ken, She lost her name and fame; But heaven alone knows where or when Her desolation came. The crew, that manned and banned her, now Nor calms nor tempests vex; The pirate billows board her bow And sweep her slimy decks. Only the wild winds strike her bells, The blind waves heave her wheel; Her leaks are streaming as the swells Her gaping seams unseal. Upflung against relentless skies Or downward dragged amain, Heaven heedeth not her agonies, Or heedeth them in vain. Shunned by her kin and kind, though still At heart as proud as they, She bides her time to work her will And holds her fate at bay. While leven-brands forbear to strike, As clouds above her frown, She haunts abysses, phantom-like, That wait to wash her down; Until Despair's appalling call, In some uncharted zone, Shall urge her o'er its verge to crawl And make the plunge alone. What high hopes perished in her clutch Eternity may tell, The snarl untangle with a touch And break the fatal spell. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CARGO MOVING TO GAZA (1988) by MARVIN BELL CONTRA MORTEM: THE LEAVES by HAYDEN CARRUTH I COULD TAKE by HAYDEN CARRUTH SYNOPSIS OF A FAILED POEM by JAMES GALVIN SUNSET by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON |