Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE NIGHT PATROL; SEPTEMBER, 1918, by ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE Poet's Biography First Line: Behind me on the darkened pier Last Line: And silent duty on the sea. Subject(s): England; Night; Ships & Shipping; Soldiers; War; World War I; English; Bedtime; First World War | ||||||||
BEHIND me on the darkened pier They crowd and chatter, man and maid. A coon-song gently strikes the ear, A flapper giggles in the shade. There where the in-terned lantern gleams, It shines on khaki and on brass; Across its yellow slanting beams The arm-locked lovers slowly pass. Out in the darkness one far light Throbs like a pulse, and fades away. Some signal on the guarded Wight, From Helen's Point to Bembridge Bay. An eastern wind blows chill and raw, Cheerless and black the waters lie, And as I gaze athwart the haze, I see the night patrol go by. Creeping shadows blur the gloom, Thicken and darken, pass and fade; Again and yet again they loom, One ruby spark above each shade Twelve ships in all! They glide so near, One hears the wave the fore-foot curled, And yet to those upon the pier They seem some other sterner world. The coon-song whimpers to a wail, The treble laughter sinks and dies, The lovers cluster on the rail, With whispered words and straining eyes. One hush of awe, and then once more The vision fades for them and me, And there is laughter on the shore, And silent duty on the sea. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...D'ANNUNZIO by ERNEST HEMINGWAY 1915: THE TRENCHES by CONRAD AIKEN TO OUR PRESIDENT by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE HORSES by KATHARINE LEE BATES CHILDREN OF THE WAR by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE U-BOAT CREWS by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE RED CROSS NURSE by KATHARINE LEE BATES WAR PROFITS by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE UNCHANGEABLE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE SONG OF THE BOW, FR. THE WHITE COMPANY by ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE |
|