Page:Poems Shore.djvu/70

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE PIRATE'S DREAM
The drowned! the drowned! down in the sea
How thick they crowd my vessel's way.
The labouring keel moves heavily
Against the mass of heaving grey.
And everywhere, as on we go,
Starts up a face I seem to know.

But see, all round the horizon's verge
What crowds of dotted sails it shows—
Hull down, like ghosts they top the surge—
Saint Mary! how their stature grows,
The hulls increase, the canvas spreads—
Now like tall ships they lift their heads.

Now for the chase—poor fools, they flee—
Was ever ship so swift as mine?
Before, our thunder shakes the sea,
Behind us winds a foamy line,
That cuts the mighty main in two,
And with white silver streaks the blue.

56