Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AT SEA by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: YEA, WE GO DOWN TO SEA IN SHIPS--
Last Line: AND WAFT US HOME AGAIN!
Subject(s): LOVE; SEA; SHIPS & SHIPPING; OCEAN;
YEA, we go down to sea in ships --
But Hope remains behind,
And Love, with laughter on his lips,
And Peace, of passive mind;
While out across the deeps of night,
With lifted sails of prayer,
We voyage off in quest of light,
Nor find it anywhere.

O Thou who wroughtest earth and sea,
Yet keepest from our eyes
The shores of an eternity
In calms of Paradise,
Blow back upon our foolish quest
With all the driving rain
Of blinding tears and wild unrest,
And waft us home again!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net