O, what is that whimpering there in the darkness? <br /> <br />'Let him lie in my arms. He is breathing, I know. <br />Look. I'll wrap all my hair round his neck' - 'The sea's rising, <br />The boat must be lightened. He's dead. He must go.' <br /> <br /> <br />See - quick - by that flash, where the bitter foam tosses, <br />The cloud of white faces, in the black open boat, <br />And the wild pleading woman that clasps her dead lover <br />And wraps her loose hair round his breast and his throat. <br /> <br /> <br />'Come, lady, he's dead.' - 'No, I feel his heart beating, <br />He's living, I know. But he's numbed with the cold. <br />See, I'm wrapping my hair all around him to warm him.' - <br />- 'No. We can't keep the dead, dear. Come, loosen your hold. <br /> <br />'Come. Loosen your fingers.' - ' O God, let me keep him!' - <br /> <br />O, hide it, black night! Let the winds have their way! <br />And there are no voices or ghosts from that darkness, <br />To fret the bare seas at the breaking of day.<br /><br />Alfred Noyes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-open-boat/
