 | Orellana and Other Poems |  |
242
II. UP THE SKAGER RACK.
It was the point of dawn; and in the bowI stood alone, facing the grey north-east.
Far on the left, like a huge brown sea-beast
That had been chased and was o'ertaken now,
Surprised asleep, lay Norway. From the prow
A hissing of salt spray that still increased
Rose plainly audible—for the gale had ceased
And the keel cut the sea-plain like a plough.
And so with only a ripple on the sea,
And ne'er a storm-cloud o'er us muttering black,
We voyaged with an easy course and free
And—disappointing, now on looking back;
For the old sagas make the surges flee
Like riderless horses up the Skager Rack.
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