Poems (Jackson)/Wreck
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O many fathoms deep my sweet ship lies,
No ripple marks the place. The gulls' white wings
Pause not; the boatman idly sleeps or sings,
Floating above; and smile to smile, with skies
That bend and shine, the sunny water vies.
Too heavy freight, and of too costly things,
My sweet ship bore. No tempest's mutterings
Warned me; but in clear noon, before my eyes
She sudden faltered, rocked, and with each sail
Full set, went down!
O Heart! in diver's mail
Wrap thee. Breathe not till, standing on her deck,
Thou has confronted all thy loss and wreck.
Poor coward Heart!—thou darest not plunge?—
For thee
There lies no other pearl in any sea.
WRECK.
[By the laws of the Rhodians divers were allowed a share of the wreck in proportion to the depth to which they had gone in search of it.]
O many fathoms deep my sweet ship lies,No ripple marks the place. The gulls' white wings
Pause not; the boatman idly sleeps or sings,
Floating above; and smile to smile, with skies
That bend and shine, the sunny water vies.
Too heavy freight, and of too costly things,
My sweet ship bore. No tempest's mutterings
Warned me; but in clear noon, before my eyes
She sudden faltered, rocked, and with each sail
Full set, went down!
O Heart! in diver's mail
Wrap thee. Breathe not till, standing on her deck,
Thou has confronted all thy loss and wreck.
Poor coward Heart!—thou darest not plunge?—
For thee
There lies no other pearl in any sea.