Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SEA TRADE, by ISIDORUS AEGEATES
First Line: Eteocles was I, whom hope of gain
Last Line: Blow on the threshing-floor, and on the sails.
Subject(s): Disasters; Shipwrecks

ETEOCLES was I, whom hope of gain
In ocean trade lured from a farmer's home;
I crossed the ridges of the Tyrrhene main
And, ship and all, plunged headlong to my doom,
Crushed by a sudden squall; for different gales
Blow on the threshing-floor, and on the sails.