IN cabin'd ships, at sea, <br /> The boundless blue on every side expanding, <br /> With whistling winds and music of the waves--the large imperious <br /> waves--In such, <br /> Or some lone bark, buoy'd on the dense marine, <br /> Where, joyous, full of faith, spreading white sails, <br /> She cleaves the ether, mid the sparkle and the foam of day, or under <br /> many a star at night, <br /> By sailors young and old, haply will I, a reminiscence of the land, <br /> be read, <br /> In full rapport at last. <br /> <br /> <br /> Here are our thoughts--voyagers' thoughts, <br /> Here not the land, firm land, alone appears, may then by them be <br /> said; 10 <br /> The sky o'erarches here--we feel the undulating deck beneath our <br /> feet, <br /> We feel the long pulsation--ebb and flow of endless motion; <br /> The tones of unseen mystery--the vague and vast suggestions of the <br /> briny world--the liquid-flowing syllables, <br /> The perfume, the faint creaking of the cordage, the melancholy <br /> rhythm, <br /> The boundless vista, and the horizon far and dim, are all here, <br /> And this is Ocean's poem. <br /> <br /> <br /> Then falter not, O book! fulfil your destiny! <br /> You, not a reminiscence of the land alone, <br /> You too, as a lone bark, cleaving the ether--purpos'd I know <br /> not whither--yet ever full of faith, 20 <br /> Consort to every ship that sails--sail you! <br /> Bear forth to them, folded, my love--(Dear mariners! for you I fold <br /> it here, in every leaf;) <br /> Speed on, my Book! spread your white sails, my little bark, athwart <br /> the imperious waves! <br /> Chant on--sail on--bear o'er the boundless blue, from me, to every <br /> shore, <br /> This song for mariners and all their ships.<br /><br />Walt Whitman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/in-cabin-d-ships-at-sea/
