Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BECALMED by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: WOULD THAT THE WINDS MIGHT
Last Line: AH! THAT THE WINDS MIGHT RISE AND BLOW!
Subject(s): MYTHOLOGY; WIND;
I

WOULD that the winds might only blow
As they blew in the golden long ago! --
Laden with odors of Orient isles
Where ever and ever the sunshine smiles,
And the bright sands blend with the shady trees,
And the lotus blooms in the midst of these.

II

Warm winds won from the midland vales
To where the tress of the Siren trails
O'er the flossy tip of the mountain phlox
And the bare limbs twined in the crested rocks,
High above as the sea-gulls flap
Their lopping wings at the thunderclap.

III

Ah! that the winds might rise and blow
The great surge up from the port below,
Bloating the sad, lank, silken sails
Of the Argo out with the swift, sweet gales
That blew from Colchis when Jason had
His love's full will and his heart was glad --
When Medea's voice was soft and low.
Ah! that the winds might rise and blow!



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