Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHALE, by WILLIAM ROSE BENET Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Rain, with a silver flail Last Line: "and there was whale!" Subject(s): Creation; God; Judgment Day; Whales; End Of The World; Doomsday; Fall Of Man | ||||||||
Rain, with a silver flail; Sun, with a golden ball; Ocean, wherein the whale Swims minnow-small; I heard the whale rejoice And cynic sharks attend; He cried with a purple voice, "The Lord is my Friend!" "With flanged and battering tail, With huge and dark baleen, He said, 'let there by Whale In the Cold and Green!' "He gave me a water spout, A side like a harbor wall; The Lord from cloud looked out And planned it all. "With glittering crown atilt He leaned on a glittering rail; He said, 'Where sky is spilt, Let there be Whale." "Tier upon tier of wings Blushed and blanched and bowed; Phalanxed fiery things Cried in the cloud; "Million-eyed was the mirk At the plan not understood; But the Lord looked on his work And saw it was good. "He gave me marvelous girth For the curve of back and breast, And a tiny eye of mirth To hide His jest. "He made me a floating hill, A plunging deep-sea mine. This was the Lord's will; The Lord is Divine. "I magnify his name In earthquake and eclipse, In weltering molten flame And wrecks of ships, "In waves that lick the moon; I, the plough of the sea! I am the Lord's boon, The Lord made me!" The sharks barked from beneath, As the great whale rollicked and roared, "Yes, and our grinning teeth, Was it not the Lord?" Then question pattered like hail From fishes large and small. "The Lord is mighty," said Whale, "The Lord made all! "His is a mammoth jest Life may never betray; He has laid it up in His breast Till Judgment Day; "But high when combers foam And tower their last of all, My power shall haul you home Through Heaven wall. "A trumpet then in the gates, To the ramps a thundering drum, I shall lead you where He waits For His Whale to come. "Where His cloudy seat is placed On high in an empty dome, I shall trail the Ocean abased In chains of foam, "Unwieldy, squattering dread; Where the blazing cohorts stand At last I shall lift my head As it feels His hand. "Then wings with a million eyes Before mine eyes shall quail: 'Look you, all Paradise, I was His Whale!'" I heard the Whale rejoice, As he splayed the waves to a fan; "And the Lord shall say with His Voice, 'Leviathan!' "The Lord shall say with His Tongue, 'Now let all Heaven give hail To my Jest when I was young, To my very Whale!'" Then the Whale careered in the Sea, He floundered with flailing tail; Flourished and rollicked he, "Aha! Mine Empery! For the Lord said, 'Let Whale Be!' And there Was Whale!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON ETHNIC DEFINITIONS by ELEANOR WILNER THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL by WILLIAM BLAKE THE END OF THE WORLD by GORDON BOTTOMLEY 1X1 (ONE TIMES ONE): 20 by EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS ONCE BY THE PACIFIC by ROBERT FROST THE FALCONER OF GOD by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |
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