The ship-yard that I knew so well Lies sepulchered below the hill; Some strange enchantment on it fell, The mallet and the ax to still. And after many and many a year, I stand by its neglected grave, The noises of the past to hear And see the Pilgrim take the wave; For launching-day is here again With throngs, and cheers and hearts elate; The tide, as punctual as then, Is brimming now and will not wait. The shores and spurs are knocked away; The people, motionless at gaze; The masts, and trees and buildings sway; The bark is gliding from her ways. The flags are snapping in the sky And on her decks, from side to side, The line is rushing, with the cry Of "Roll her, roll her," ringing wide. The mimic waves that curl and break Repeat the murmur of the main; Whose winds and waters wait to make The joy of the occasion vain. By night and day, by day and night She sailed to meet the rolling rack; She vanished out of mortal sight, And only now her wraith comes back. Released by the relenting sea, From mist and murk and sea birds' scream, To people, as of old, for me The voiceless yard, the vacant stream. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INDEPENDENCE DAY, 1956, A FAIRY TALE by JAMES GALVIN FAITH by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON GUARDIANSHIP by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE WILLOW by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON GHOSTS OF THE OLD YEAR by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON ON VIOLET'S WAFERS, SENT ME WHEN I WAS ILL by SIDNEY LANIER THE CANDLE by KATHERINE MANSFIELD |