The Pilot

Related poetry:

1. The Aged Pilot Man On the Erie Canal, it was, All on a summer’s day, I sailed forth with my parents Far away to Albany. From out the clouds at noon that day There came a dreadful storm, That piled the billows high about, And filled us with alarm. A man came rushing from a house, Saying, “Snub up […]...
2. The Lost Pilot for my father, 1922-1944 Your face did not rot Like the others the co-pilot, For example, I saw him Yesterday. His face is corn- Mush: his wife and daughter, The poor ignorant people, stare As if he will compose soon. He was more wronged than Job. But your face did not rot Like the others […]...
3. Not the Pilot NOT the pilot has charged himself to bring his ship into port, though beaten back, and many times baffled; Not the path-finder, penetrating inland, weary and long, By deserts parch’d, snows-chill’d, rivers wet, perseveres till he reaches his destination, More than I have charged myself, heeded or unheeded, to compose a free march for These […]...
4. Grass The living room is overgrown with grass. It has Come up around the furniture. It stretches through The dining room, past the swinging door into the Kitchen. It extends for miles and miles into the Walls. . . There’s treasure in grass, things dropped or put There; a stick of rust that was once a […]...
5. My Bed is a Boat 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. […]...
6. Serenade (For Music) The western wind is blowing fair Across the dark AEgean sea, And at the secret marble stair My Tyrian galley waits for thee. Come down! the purple sail is spread, The watchman sleeps within the town, O leave thy lily-flowered bed, O Lady mine come down, come down! She will not come, I know her […]...
7. Messy Room Whosever room this is should be ashamed! His underwear is hanging on the lamp. His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair, And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp. His workbook is wedged in the window, His sweater’s been thrown on the floor. His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV, And […]...
8. Nocturne of the Wharves All night they whine upon their ropes and boom Against the dock with helpless prows: These little ships that are too worn for sailing Front the wharf but do not rest at all. Tugging at the dim gray wharf they think No doubt of China and of bright Bombay, And they remember islands of the […]...
9. Home I came back late and tired last night Into my little room, To the long chair and the firelight And comfortable gloom. But as I entered softly in I saw a woman there, The line of neck and cheek and chin, The darkness of her hair, The form of one I did not know Sitting […]...
10. Kathleen It was the steamer Alice May that sailed the Yukon foam. And touched in every river camp from Dawson down to Nome. It was her builder, owner, pilot, Captain Silas Geer, Who took her through the angry ice, the last boat of the year; Who patched her cracks with gunny sacks and wound her pipes […]...
11. The Window All night long, by a distant bell, The passing hours were notched On the dark, while her breathing rose and fell, And the spark of life I watched In her face was glowing or fading, who could tell? And the open window of the room, With a flare of yellow light, Was peering out into […]...
12. Bill Bowls the Sailor ‘Twas about the beginning of the present century, Bill Bowls was pressed, and sent to sea; And conveyed on board the Waterwitch without delay, Scarce getting time to bid farewell to the villagers of Fairway – And once on board the “Waterwitch,” he resolved to do his duty, And God willing, he’d marry Nelly Blyth, […]...
13. The Death of Captain Ward ‘Twas about the beginning of the past century Billy Bowls was pressed into the British Navy, And conveyed on board the “Waterwitch” without delay, Scarce getting time to bid farewell to the villagers of Fairway. And once on board the “Waterwitch” he resolved to do his duty, And if he returned safe home he’d marry […]...
14. The Sad Message The Captain becomes moody at sea. He’s Afraid of water; such bully amounts that prove the Seas. . . A glass of water is one thing. A man easily downs It, capturing its menace in his bladder; pissing it Away. A few drops of rain do little harm, save to Remind of how grief looks […]...
15. Stars Wheel in Purple Stars wheel in purple, yours is not so rare As Hesperus, nor yet so great a star As bright Aldeboran or Sirius, Nor yet the stained and brilliant one of War; Stars turn in purple, glorious to the sight; Yours is not gracious as the Pleiads are Nor as Orion’s sapphires, luminous; Yet disenchanted, cold, […]...
16. The house where I was born (08) I open my eyes, yes, it’s the house where I was born, Exactly as it was and nothing more. The same small dining room whose window Gives onto a peach tree that never grows. A man and a woman are seated At this window, facing one another, They are talking, for once. And the child […]...
17. Of Three Or Four In The Room Out of three or four in the room One is always standing at the window. Forced to see the injustice amongst the thorns, The fires on the hills. And people who left whole Are brought home in the evening, like small change. Out of three or four in the room One is always standing at […]...
18. A Stone Is Nobody's A man ambushed a stone. Caught it. Made it a prisoner. Put it in a dark room and stood guard over it for the Rest of his life. His mother asked why. He said, because it’s held captive, because it is Captured. Look, the stone is asleep, she said, it does not know Whether it’s […]...
19. The House Of Dust: Part 02: 11: Snow falls. The sky is grey, and sullenly glares Snow falls. The sky is grey, and sullenly glares With purple lights in the canyoned street. The fiery sign on the dark tower wreathes and flares. . . The trodden grass in the park is covered with white, The streets grow silent beneath our feet. . . The city dreams, it forgets its past to-night. […]...
20. The Pilot From the Past and Unavailing Out of cloudland we are steering: After groping, after fearing, Into starlight we come trailing, And we find the stars are true. Still, O comrade, what of you? You are gone, but we are sailing, And the old ways are all new. For the Lost and Unreturning We have drifted, […]...
21. Music Swims Back To Me Wait Mister. Which way is home? They turned the light out And the dark is moving in the corner. There are no sign posts in this room, Four ladies, over eighty, In diapers every one of them. La la la, Oh music swims back to me And I can feel the tune they played The […]...
22. The Horrors of Majuba ‘Twas after the great Majuba fight: And the next morning, at daylight, Captain Macbean’s men were ordered to headquarters camp, So immediately Captain Macbean and his men set out on tramp. And there they were joined by the Blue Jackets and 58th men, Who, for unflinching courage, no man can them condemn; And that brave […]...
23. The Marionettes Of Distant Masters A pianist dreams that he’s hired by a wrecking company to Ruin a piano with his fingers. . . On the day of the piano wrecking concert, as he’s Dressing, he notices a butterfly annoying a flower in his window Box. He wonders if the police should be called. Then he thinks Maybe the butterfly […]...
24. God's Wheel GOD says to me with a kind Of smile, “Hey how would you like To be God awhile And steer the world?” “Okay,” says I, “I’ll give it a try. Where do I set? How much do I get? What time is lunch? When can I quit?” “Gimme back that wheel,” says GOD. “I don’t […]...
25. Hamlet Micure In a lingering fever many visions come to you: I was in the little house again With its great yard of clover Running down to the board-fence, Shadowed by the oak tree, Where we children had our swing. Yet the little house was a manor hall Set in a lawn, and by the lawn was […]...
26. The Jacket Through the Plagues of Egyp’ we was chasin’ Arabi, Gettin’ down an’ shovin’ in the sun; An’ you might ‘ave called us dirty, an’ you might ha’ called us dry, An’ you might ‘ave ‘eard us talkin’ at the gun. But the Captain ‘ad ‘is jacket, an’ the jacket it was new (‘Orse Gunners, listen […]...
27. Smoke I SIT in a chair and read the newspapers. Millions of men go to war, acres of them are buried, guns and ships broken, cities burned, villages sent up in smoke, and children where cows are killed off amid hoarse barbecues vanish like finger-rings of smoke in a north wind. I sit in a chair […]...
28. Paying The Captain We get on a boat, never mind if it sinks, we pay The captain by throwing him overboard. And when he Gets back onboard we say, captain, please don’t be Angry. And he forgives us this time. And so we throw Him overboard again just to make sure we have fully Paid the price we […]...
29. The Sirens' Song STEER, hither steer your winged pines, All beaten mariners! Here lie Love’s undiscover’d mines, A prey to passengers Perfumes far sweeter than the best Which make the Phoenix’ urn and nest. Fear not your ships, Nor any to oppose you save our lips; But come on shore, Where no joy dies till Love hath gotten […]...
30. Homeward Bound Home, for my heart still calls me; Home, through the danger zone; Home, whatever befalls me, I will sail again to my own! Wolves of the sea are hiding Closely along the way, Under the water biding Their moment to rend and slay. Black is the eagle that brands them, Black are their hearts as […]...
31. The Gardener XIX: You Walked You walked by the riverside path With the full pitcher upon your hip. Why did you swiftly turn your face And peep at me through your fluttering Veil? That gleaming look from the dark Came upon me like a breeze that sends A shiver through the rippling water And sweeps away to the shadowy Shore. […]...
32. My Vision Wherever my feet may wander Wherever I chance to be, There comes, with the coming of even’ time A vision sweet to me. I see my mother sitting In the old familiar place, And she rocks to the tune her needles sing, And thinks of an absent face. I can hear the roar of the […]...
33. The Lighted Window A lighted window floats through the night Like a piece of paper in the wind. I want to see into it. I want to climb Through into its lighted room. As I reach for it it slips through the Trees. As I chase it it rolls and tumbles Into the air and skitters on through […]...
34. Approaching The Veil, Scientifically Eyes like stars sparkle and die And cycle into new stars, new eyes. The answer is outside our window. Astronomers look For the beginning And find there is no end. Down to earth There are frozen lines, Winter trees, Stalled cars in dirty snow, Sorrow over endings. The real world is through the window, Infinite, […]...
35. On this wondrous sea On this wondrous sea Sailing silently, Ho! Pilot, ho! Knowest thou the shore Where no breakers roar Where the storm is o’er? In the peaceful west Many the sails at rest The anchors fast Thither I pilot thee Land Ho! Eternity! Ashore at last!...
36. Crossing The Bar Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, […]...
37. The Wanderers OVER the sea our galleys went, With cleaving prows in order brave To a speeding wind and a bounding wave A gallant armament: Each bark built out of a forest-tree Left leafy and rough as first it grew, And nail’d all over the gaping sides, Within and without, with black bull-hides, Seethed in fat and […]...
38. The Contrast Fat lady, in your four-wheeled chair, Dolled up to beat the band, At me you arrogantly stare With gold lorgnette in hand. Oh how you differ from the dame So shabby, gaunt and grey, With legs rheumatically lame, Who steers you on your way. Nay, jewelled lady, look not back Lest you should be disturbed […]...
39. The Ships that Won't Go Down We hear a great commotion ‘Bout the ship that comes to grief, That founders in mid-ocean, Or is driven on a reef; Because it’s cheap and brittle A score of sinners drown. But we hear but mighty little Of the ships that won’t go down. Here’s honour to the builders – The builders of the […]...
40. The Homebody There still are kindly things for me to know, Who am afraid to dream, afraid to feel- This little chair of scrubbed and sturdy deal, This easy book, this fire, sedate and slow. And I shall stay with them, nor cry the woe Of wounds across my breast that do not heal; Nor wish that […]...