Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE VOYAGERS, by BAYARD TAYLOR Poet's Biography First Line: No longer spread the sail! Last Line: Can bring us to the isle? Alternate Author Name(s): Taylor, James Bayard Subject(s): Sea Voyages | ||||||||
No longer spread the sail! No longer strain the oar! For never yet has blown the gale Will bring us nearer shore. The swaying keel slides on, The helm obeys the hand; Fast we have sailed from dawn to dawn Yet never reach the land. Each morn we see its peaks, Made beautiful with snow; Each eve its vales and winding croeks, That sleep in mist below. At noon we mark the gleam Of temples tall and fair; At midnight watch its bonfires stream In the auroral air. And still the keel is swift, And still the wind is free, And still as far its mountains lift Beyond the enchanted sea. Yet vain is all return, Though false the goal before; The gale is ever dead astern, The current sets to shore. O shipmates, leave the ropes, -- And what though no one steers, We sail no faster for our hopes, No slower for our fears. Howe'er the bark is blown, Lie down and sleep awhile: What profits toil, when chance alone Can bring us to the isle? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN ABEYANCE by DENISE LEVERTOV LEAVING FOREVER by DENISE LEVERTOV SAILING HOME FROM RAPALLO by ROBERT LOWELL SHACKLETON by MADELINE DEFREES QE2. TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING. THIRD DAY. by RITA DOVE MANHATTAN, 1609 by EDWIN MARKHAM CROSSING THE ATLANTIC by ANNE SEXTON THE INDIA WHARF by SARA TEASDALE BEDOUIN [LOVE] SONG by BAYARD TAYLOR NATIONAL ODE; INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA by BAYARD TAYLOR |
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