The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand; The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand; The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea; And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee. They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day; But ’twas […]
The Wind Blew Shrill and Smart by Robert Louis Stevenson
THE wind blew shrill and smart, And the wind awoke my heart Again to go a-sailing o’er the sea, To hear the cordage moan And the straining timbers groan, And to see the flying pennon lie a-lee. O sailor of the fleet, It is time to stir the feet! It’s time to man the dingy […]
My Bed is a Boat by Robert Louis Stevenson
My bed is like a little boat; Nurse helps me in when I embark; She girds me in my sailor’s coat And starts me in the dark. At night I go on board and say Good-night to all my friends on shore; I shut my eyes and sail away And see and hear no more. […]
Thalassa by Louis MacNeice
Run out the boat, my broken comrades; Let the old seaweed crack, the surge Burgeon oblivious of the last Embarkation of feckless men, Let every adverse force converge — Here we must needs embark again. Run up the sail, my heartsick comrades; Let each horizon tilt and lurch — You know the worst: your wills are fickle, Your values […]
Sea Fever by John Masefield
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a gray mist on the sea’s face, and a gray […]
