Poems for Sailors

[Steadman Uhlich]

Sailors are known for songs, (a "sailors ditty"), chanteys, bawdy humor, and an appreciation for the risks inherent in a seafaring life. Words found in song lyrics and in poetry can touch the soul, and many poems and songs loved by sailors reflect the harshness of the life at sea, the memories of those left behind or lost, and the undeniable attraction of the ocean.

Feel free to add poems to this thread if they speak to the sailor in you.
--------
To start this thread:
Here is a poem that made me think of a sailor's view of life, though it says nothing about sailing or the sea.
--------

"Let me die a youngman's death"

Let me die a youngman's death
not a clean and inbetween
the sheets holywater death
not a famous-last-words
peaceful out of breath death

When I'm 73
and in constant good tumour
may I be mown down at dawn
by a bright red sports car
on my way home
from an allnight party

Or when I'm 91
with silver hair
and sitting in a barber's chair
may rival gangsters
with hamfisted tommyguns burst in
and give me a short back and insides

Or when I'm 104
and banned from the Cavern
may my mistress
catching me in bed with her daughter
and fearing for her son
cut me up into little pieces
and throw away every piece but one

Let me die a youngman's death
not a free from sin tiptoe in
candle wax and waning death
not a curtains drawn by angels borne
'what a nice way to go' death

----Roger McGough

[AD28]

Sailors' haiku:

A day of sailing
Things break. I have to fix them
Cycle never ends

[mrohr]

The Articulate Sailor by James Tazelaar ,best collections of lyrical and profound excerpts from most of the vast sailing literature ,much of which I've read. If you don't know what to read next you will find excerpts from the great ones in the English language.He also edited Sea verse.
FWIW: Ebay
...............................luv you all ......................mike........................ ....................

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I like this poem. I decided to take a picture of my lamp in the boat table and thought it worked well.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Another good one I found some time ago:
-----------------------------------------------

by Alban Wall

Down in the harbor of Broken Dreams
On the shores of Yesterday,
Her hull half-buried by sands of Time,
A schooner lies rotting away;
And her broken beams are the broken hopes
Of plans that have somehow failed -
And the tide drifts in and the tide drifts out
Past a boat that has never sailed.

Her timbers were made of the finest wood
From the forests of Caribee;
Her sails were like wings of the albatross
That glide o’er the southern sea;
And her decks how they echoed her builder’s song
As he fashioned her, plank and nail -
Now only the seagull’s lonesome cry
Haunts the boat that has never set sail.

She never answered the siren call
Of coaxing wind and tide;
She never breasted the Spanish Main
With the seas coming over her side;
And the pennant that hangs from her broken mast
Never shook in the lashing gale -
For the tides of Destiny waxed too full
And the schooner never set sail.

Somewhere there are men with snow-white hair
Who sit in life’s twilight years,
And often their thoughts drift wistfully back,
And often their eyes fill with tears
As they think of the dreams that have gone astray
And the plans that have somehow failed -
God, heal the hearts of the men who have built
The boats that have never sailed.

[SV MAKAI]

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody-NS27

I like this poem. I decided to take a picture of my lamp in the boat table and thought it worked well.

Nice. Good use of the photo and lamp too.

[senormechanico]

Written in the middle of the night...


Disappointment


Waiting, with covers raised
While taking aim
Into the cold night air
For the fart
That never came

[chrisr]

i'm sorry...there is only one sailors poem...sea fever by coleridge

imho nothing else is fit to be in the same room



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 grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

[carlosproa]

Well… song are poems

So for those of you from the 70’s you what is next:

Christopher Cross

Sailing
/
Lyrics
Main Results
Well, it's not far down to paradise
At least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away
And find tranquility
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see, believe me
It's not far to never never land
No reason to pretend
And if the wind is right you can find the joy
Of innocence again
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see, believe me
Sailing
Takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
Soon I will be free
Fantasy
It gets the best of me
When I'm sailing
All caught up in the reverie
Every word is a symphony
Won't you believe me?
Sailing
Takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free
Well, it's not far back to sanity
At least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away
And find serenity
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see, really, believe me
Sailing
Takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Carter Burwell

[Hope123]

Gone From My Sight by Henry Van Dyke
I am standing upon the seashore
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts
for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says;
"There, she is gone!"
"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side
and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, "There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout;
"Here she comes!"
And that is dying.

[StuM]

Courtesy of ChatGPT: "write a poem for sailors"


Poem #1

Oh, sailors brave and true,
Who navigate the ocean blue,
With strength and skill, they brave the gales,
And set their sails to foreign trails.

The wind and waves may toss and roar,
And skies may darken with a storm,
But steadfast sailors push ahead,
Their hearts with courage full and warm.

For them, the sea holds endless dreams,
Of foreign lands, and mystery,
Of adventures bold, and stories told,
With each port, a tapestry.

So here's to sailors, brave and bold,
Who journey forth with hearts of gold,
Their love for the sea, their passion shines,
For they are the guardians of the brine.


Poem #2
Sailors, men of the sea,
With calloused hands and weathered skin,
Their love for the ocean, it shines so bright,
With every voyage, their spirits lift.

They brave the storms, with winds so strong,
And waves that rise, to great heights,
Yet still they journey, far and wide,
With every port, a new delight.

With every sunrise, a new day,
And every sunset, a new night,
The ocean is their home, their guide,
With every voyage, a new sight.

So here's to the sailors, of the sea,
With courage and strength, they journey on,
For they are the keepers of the brine,
And forever, their love for the ocean will shine.

[fgd3]

Originally Posted by chrisr

i'm sorry...there is only one sailors poem...sea fever by coleridge

"Sea Fever" was written by John Masefield.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by fgd3

"Sea Fever" was written by John Masefield.

thanks, of course...how stupid of me.

cheers

[Jim Cate]

^^^^^

Coleridge, of course, wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the lengthy description of Chotu's voyage as chronicled here on CF.

(No offense meant, Chotu... your struggle is a valiant one!)

Jim