Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

STREET-CRIES: 2. THE SHIP OF EARTH by SIDNEY LANIER

Poet Analysis

First Line: THOU SHIP OF EARTH, WITH DEATH, AND BIRTH, AND LIFE, AND SEX ABOARD
Last Line: PRATTVILLE, ALABAMA, 1868.
Subject(s): SEA; OCEAN;
"THOU Ship of Earth, with Death, and Birth, and Life, and Sex aboard,
And fires of Desires burning hotly in the hold,
I fear thee, O! I fear thee, for I hearthe tongue and sword
At battle on the deck, and the wild mutineers are bold!
"The dewdrop morn may fall from off the petal of the sky,
But all the deck is wet with blood and stains the crystal red.
A pilot, GOD, a pilot! for the helm is left awry,
And the best sailors in the ship lie there among the dead!"
PRATTVILLE, ALABAMA, 1868.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net