Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE PHANTOM LINER, by ANONYMOUS First Line: The fog lay deep on georges bank Last Line: Into the fog again Subject(s): Fog;seashore;ships - Abandoning Of;tides;waves; Haze;beach;coast;shore | ||||||||
THE fog lay deep on Georges Bank, Rolling deep fold on fold; It dripped and dripped from the rigging dank, And the day sank dark and cold. The watch stood close by the reeling rail And listened into the gloom; Was there a sound save the slatting sail And the creak of the swaying boom? Out of the dark the great waves crept And shouldered darkly by, Till over their tops a murmur crept That was neither of sea nor sky. "Is it the churn of a steamer's screw?" "Is it a wind that sighs?" A shiver ran through the listening crew, We looked in each other's eyes. No engines throbbed, no whistle boomed, No foam curled from her prow, But out of the mist a liner loomed Ten fathom from our bow. Ten fathom from our bow she grew, No man might speak or stir, As she leapt from the fog that softly drew Like a shroud from over her. We shut our teeth in grim despair, Then, like one under a spell, Right through her as she struck us fair I saw the lift of a swell. There was never a crash of splintered plank, No rush of incoming tide, There was never a tear in the mainsail dank As her hull went through our side. Unharmed we drifted down the night, On into the fog she drave, And through her as she passed from sight I saw the light of a wave. Was it some ship long lost at sea, Whose wraith still sails the main? Or the ghost of a wreck that is yet to be In some wild hurricane? Was it a warning to fishing boats Of what the fog may hold, As over their decks it drips and floats And swathes in its slinging fold? I cannot tell, I only know Our crew of eighteen men Saw the gray form come, and saw it go Into the fog again. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SEASHORE by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS EASTERN LONG ISLAND by MARVIN BELL THE WIND IS BLOWING WEST by JOSEPH CERAVOLO IF SOMETHING SHOULD HAPPEN by LUCILLE CLIFTON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER EMPTIES INTO THE GULF by LUCILLE CLIFTON GEOGRAPHY AS WARNING by MADELINE DEFREES POWER FAILURE by MADELINE DEFREES TIS A LITTLE JOURNEY by ANONYMOUS |
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