By her battered hatch I leaned
and caught
Sounds from the noisome hold,—
Cursing and sighing of souls
distraught
And cries too sad to be told.
Then I strove to go down and
see;
But they said, “Thou
art not of us!”
I turned to those on the deck
with me
And cried, “Give help!”
But they said, “Let be:
Our ship sails faster thus.”
Jill-o’er-the-ground
is purple blue,
Blue is the quaker-maid,
The alder clump where the
brook comes through
Breeds cresses in its shade.
To be out of the moiling street
With its swelter and its sin!
Who has given to me this sweet,
And given my brother dust
to eat?
And when will his wage come
in?
Scattering wide or blown in
ranks,
Yellow and white and brown,
Boats and boats from the fishing
banks
Come home to Gloucester town.
There is cash to purse and
spend,
There are wives to be embraced,
Hearts to borrow and hearts
to lend,
And hearts to take and keep
to the end,—
O little sails, make haste!
But thou, vast outbound ship
of souls,
What harbor town for thee?
What shapes, when thy arriving
tolls,
Shall crowd the banks to see?
Shall all the happy shipmates
then
Stand singing brotherly?
Or shall a haggard ruthless
few
Warp her over and bring her
to,
While the many broken souls
of men
Fester down in the slaver’s
pen,
And nothing to say or do?
NOTES
=Gloucester town=: Gloucester is a seaport town in Massachusetts, the chief seat of the cod and mackerel fisheries of the coast.
=Jill-o’er-the-ground=: Ground ivy; usually written Gill-over-the-ground.
=Quaker-maid=: Quaker ladies; small blue flowers growing low on the ground.
=wax-red=: The huckleberry blossom is red and waxy.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY
Read the poem slowly through to yourself, getting what you can out of it, without trying too hard. Note that after the third stanza the earth is compared to a ship. After you have read the poem through, go back and study it with the help of the following questions and suggestions:—
The author is out on the moors not far from the sea: What details does he select to make you feel the beauty of the afternoon? What words in the first stanza suggest movement and freedom? Why does the author stop to tell about the flowers, when he has so many important things to say? Note a change of tone at the beginning of the fourth stanza. What suggests to the author that the earth is like a ship? Why does he say that it is not a steadfast place? How does the fifth stanza remind you of The Ancient Mariner? Why does the author speak so passionately