 | Rhymes with reason and without |  |
33
THE SKELETON SCHOONER.
The moon comes up from Dorchester,
From Dorchester behind,
And gloomy clouds scud through the sky,
Borne on the midnight wind;
From Dorchester behind,
And gloomy clouds scud through the sky,
Borne on the midnight wind;
And stillness broods above the land,
A stillness strange and dread,
Like the hush of terror-stricken men
In presence of the dead.
A stillness strange and dread,
Like the hush of terror-stricken men
In presence of the dead.
Upon South Boston's upper bridge
I take my pensive stand,
And gaze upon the rippling waves,
And on the shadowy land.
I take my pensive stand,
And gaze upon the rippling waves,
And on the shadowy land.
I gaze upon the watery waves
That wander there away,
Where the skeleton dark of the shattered bark
Is shown in the moon's dim ray.
That wander there away,
Where the skeleton dark of the shattered bark
Is shown in the moon's dim ray.
I see her low in her loneliness
Lean on her leaky side;
Her masts are bowed, and, void of shroud,
Hang listless o'er the tide;
Lean on her leaky side;
Her masts are bowed, and, void of shroud,
Hang listless o'er the tide;
34
And here and there upon the air
The ropes swing wildly free,
As if they 'd fain to feel again
The heaving of the sea.
The ropes swing wildly free,
As if they 'd fain to feel again
The heaving of the sea.
And high up on the drooping masts
The rotting halyards scream,
And the sounds take form in my fancy warm
Of voices in a dream.
The rotting halyards scream,
And the sounds take form in my fancy warm
Of voices in a dream.
She rights! she rights!—afloat once more—
I see her peopled deck,
And her white sails gleam in the pale moonbeam
Withouten shade or speck.
I see her peopled deck,
And her white sails gleam in the pale moonbeam
Withouten shade or speck.
Now on and on, in the teeth of the wind,
That ghostly vessel glides;
No ripple, I trow, from her rushing prow,
No gleam from her moss-grown sides.
That ghostly vessel glides;
No ripple, I trow, from her rushing prow,
No gleam from her moss-grown sides.
And her sails hang idly swinging,
As if God's blessed gale
Withheld its aid, or was afraid
To fill that spectral sail.
As if God's blessed gale
Withheld its aid, or was afraid
To fill that spectral sail.
Still on and on, o'er the waters blue,
Nor heeding wind nor tide.
Like phantom dread from realms of the dead,
The skeleton bark doth glide.
Nor heeding wind nor tide.
Like phantom dread from realms of the dead,
The skeleton bark doth glide.
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A light!—a blue and ghastly glare—
Shoots upward from below,
And the shadowy men and the shadowy ship
Are shown in its hideous glow.
Shoots upward from below,
And the shadowy men and the shadowy ship
Are shown in its hideous glow.
A frightful shriek disturbs the air!—
A shriek both loud and clear,
That echoes around to the distant bound,
Which my spirit shrinks to hear.
A shriek both loud and clear,
That echoes around to the distant bound,
Which my spirit shrinks to hear.
My doom be stayed!—'t was thus I prayed,
As a demon shook my arm.
“Say,” cried a voice, “don't be afraid,
I don't mean ye any harm!”
As a demon shook my arm.
“Say,” cried a voice, “don't be afraid,
I don't mean ye any harm!”
'T was the watch—and there on the bridge I'd slept,
In the midnight damp and chill;
And the skeleton gray before me lay
All dreary, and dark, and still.
In the midnight damp and chill;
And the skeleton gray before me lay
All dreary, and dark, and still.
| Rhymes with reason and without | |