Nature

Song from the Ship

by Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1803–1849

From Death's Jest-Book (1850)

NatureLiving

To sea, to sea! The calm is o'er;
The wanton water leaps in sport,
And rattles down the pebbly shore;
The dolphin wheels, the sea-cows snort,
And unseen Mermaids' pearly song
Comes bubbling up, the weeds among.
Fling broad the sail, dip deep the oar:
To sea, to sea! the calm is o'er.

To sea, to sea! our wide-winged bark
Shall billowy cleave its sunny way,
And with its shadow, fleet and dark,
Break the caved Tritons' azure day,
Like mighty eagle soaring light
O'er antelopes on Alpine height.
The anchor heaves, the ship swings free,
The sails swell full. To sea, to sea!

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The sailors' song 'To sea, to sea! the calm is o'er', from Death's Jest-Book. It is a rare burst of open-air energy in a play otherwise crowded with graves.

MLA

Beddoes, Thomas Lovell. “Song from the Ship.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/beddoes/2/.

Chicago

Beddoes, Thomas Lovell. “Song from the Ship.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/beddoes/2/.

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