Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FINAL APPRAISAL, by WALTER G. RICHARDSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FINAL APPRAISAL, by                    
First Line: The inimitable deep roar
Last Line: Or a storm of years to one grown older.


The Inimitable deep roar
Upon a delicately intricate shore;
Seaweed sprawled upon the sand;
Splinters of ships that come, moss green, sun tanned;
A view out over the illimitable expanse,
Only an atom the eye may circle,
See the water green, blue and blown,
The waves roll down
Sprinkled with sunlight and tints of the rainbow
A common miracle;
The swells' insolent carousal, a laugh at a man's little boast
That scatters his playthings built along the coast;
When a black door is shut against the sun
To see what is named the old man of the ocean,
Protesting, obey the storm,
Wave in rage his arms,
Frantic, lash and tear them on a boulder,
Toss upon his bed, twist his form,
Scream with the wind, grapple with lightning, quarrel with thunder,
Grit his teeth with a set of his jaw
And drive the storm from the ocean,
Roll back with a rugged laugh in his deep wide bed
And shrug his shoulder;
Presume the sea, withholding wonder wisdom deep
Has dissolved and forgotten more
Secrets than land and mountain keep:
To one who walks along the shore
This only is known of the ocean,
Or a storm of years to one grown older.





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