Poems (Kennedy)/Ship Wrecked
SHIPWRECKED
HIGH on the beach it lies, its prow That cut the crystal of the deep And clove a path where billows sweep,Amid the golden shallows now Is lifted helpless to the sun.
Some mighty tempest drove it far From its proud course, and tossed it where Tides may not claim it from despairOr drift it o'er the harbor bar To sail the world-ports once again.
A sullen wreck, upon the strand "Twill lie, late rover of the sea, Until some storm shall set it freeFrom clinging weed and cloying sand And give it back to wind and waves.
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Beside the track of life they wait, Self-wrecked through passions undenied Or whelmed with burdens multiplied,The human derelicts of fate, The men whom God seems to forget.
Seems to forget and set apart Because in sloth their golden day Of love and trust was sinned away.(Perchance He left them that some heart Might higher reach through servitude.)
Only a voice clear-toned with hope, Only a hand with faith made strong Can lift them from the slough of wrongAnd set them on the upward slope— These derelicts of life and love.