Collected poems, 1901-1918 (Vol. 2)/Captain Lean
CAPTAIN LEAN
OUT of the East a hurricane
Swept down on Captain Lean—
That mariner and gentleman
Will never again be seen.
He sailed his ship against the foes
Of his own country dear,
But now in the trough of the billows
An aimless course doth steer.
Powder was violets to his nostrils,
Sweet the din of the fighting-line,
Now he is flotsam on the seas,
And his bones are bleached with brine.
The stars move up along the sky,
The moon she shines so bright,
And in that solitude the foam
Sparkles unearthly white.
This is the tomb of Captain Lean,
Would a straiter please his soul?
I trow he sleeps in peace,
Howsoever the billows roll!
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1956, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 67 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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