"SHIPS . . . they go," said Murphy, "like a spent pay-roll . . . They're sunk in the deep water or they're wrecked in the shoal; Burnt or scrapped in the long run, the big ships an' small, -- An' the ships a man remembers, they're the best ships of all. "Friends . . . they go," said Murphy, "the false an' the true, They all go at the finish, the same as the ships do; They go like a spree that's ended or a last year's song, But the friends a man remembers, they're his own his life long. "Times . . . they pass," said Murphy, "the fair and foul weather, The good times an' the bad times, they all pass together; Like a steersman's trick that's ended, or a blownout squall . . . An' the times a man remembers . . . they're the best times of all!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS: 11 by CONRAD AIKEN AGAINST THE REST OF THE YEAR by JAMES GALVIN GLAMOUR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MOTHER NIGHT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON VERY EARLY SPRING by KATHERINE MANSFIELD SWEET CLOVER by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |