Caroling Dusk/Ships that Pass in the Night

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

For other versions of this work, see Ships that Pass in the Night.

SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT^[1]

Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing;I look far out into the pregnant night,Where I can hear a solemn booming gunAnd catch the gleaming of a random light,That tells me that the ship I seek is passing, passing.

My tearful eyes my soul’s deep hurt are glassing;For I would hail and check that ship of ships.I stretch my hands imploring, cry aloud,My voice falls dead a foot from mine own lips,And but its ghost doth reach that vessel, passing, passing.

O Earth, O Sky, O Ocean, both surpassing,O heart of mine, O soul that dreads the dark!Is there no hope for me? Is there no wayThat I may sight and check that speeding barkWhich out of sight and sound is passing, passing?

1. Copyright 1896 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc.