Poems (Millay)/Inland

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Inland

People that build their houses inland,
 People that buy a plot of ground
Shaped like a house, and build a house there,
 Far from the sea-board, far from the sound

Of water sucking the hollow ledges,
 Tons of water striking the shore,—
What do they long for, as I long for
 One salt smell of the sea once more?

People the waves have not awakened,
 Spanking the boats at the harbour's head,
What do they long for, as I long for,—
 Starting up in my inland bed,

Beating the narrow walls, and finding
 Neither a window nor a door,
Screaming to God for death by drowning,—
 One salt taste of the sea once more?