Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 6 (October 1, 1930)

Old Hulks

Old Hulks.

They lie—black hulks at rest—
Quite unconscious of their beauty
And unoppressed by any sense of slavery.
And yet, the little waves have wound
A chain about them, and the Great Winds
Have rocked them, and the Sea
Has told them they are Hers.
They sleep—dark shapes and squat—
They scrawl among the fair vessels there
Proud of their gloom against the blue
And the bright blaze of gorse.
And now—the little waves have waked them
From their sleep, and the Sea
Once again has told them they are Hers.
They sail—old ships and tired
Out beyond the headland—still possessing
Something of their strength and pride
But black and squat and solid.
And they leave a space in the harbour
To be filled by busy foreign ships,
And in my heart an ache
For the black hulks, tired, but ready
When the Sea whispers that they are Hers: