Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MARSH-HOUSE, by JAMES E. RICHARDSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MARSH-HOUSE, by                    
First Line: Far out upon the great green sedge it stands
Last Line: Instance of things full merciful as these.
Subject(s): Houses; Swamps; Bogs; Fens; Marshes


Far out upon the great green sedge it stands.
The winds sweep round; all year the restless sea,
That cannot reach, yet will not let it be,
Beats at the beach outside with its dull hands.
At flood-tide still the sea-crabs' furtive bands
Seek food beneath its green and rotting floor;
The wild birds nest, unfeared, in its blank door;
Outsea the ships glide, past the tumbling sands.

It is the habitation of my mind,
Remote from ravaging and senseless seas,
With such smooth tides and such half-tempered wind
As might not raze it, even in centuries;
Yet slow-dissolving, useless, at the blind
Instance of things full merciful as these.





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