Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A WILD NIGHT, by JULIA WARD HOWE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A WILD NIGHT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The storm is sweeping o'er the land
Last Line: That struggle with the sea!
Subject(s): Sailing & Sailors; Sea; Storms; Seamen; Sails; Ocean


The storm is sweeping o'er the land,
And raging o'er the sea:
It urgeth sharp and dismal sounds,
The Psalm of Misery.

The straining of the cordage now,
The creaking of a spar,
The deep dumb shock the vessel feels
When billows strike and jar,

It breathes of distant seamen's hearts
That think upon their wives;
Of wretches clinging to the mast,
And wrestling for their lives.

The clouds are flying through the sky
Like spectres of affright:
Yon pale witch moon doth blast them all
With bleared and ghastly light.

Great Demons flutter through the dark
Flame touched, with dusky wing;
And Passion crouches out of sight
Like a forbidden thing.

The blast doth scourge the forest through,
Great oaks, and bushes small;
And God, the fable of the fools,
Looks silently on all.

Oh! if He watches, as I know,
Safe let Him keep our rest,
And give my little ones and me
The shelter of His breast.

No harm shall come on earth, we trust;
But, if mischance must be,
Most let Him help those weary souls
That struggle with the sea!





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