[Poems by Drake in] The life and works of Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820) | ||
XIII
Upsprung the spirits of the wave,From sea-silk beds in their coral cave,
With snail-plate armor snatched in haste,
They speed their way through the liquid waste;
Some are rapidly borne along
On the mailed shrimp or the prickly prong,
154
Some on the stony star-fish ride,
Some on the back of the lancing squab,
And some on the sideling soldier-crab;
And some on the jellied quarl, who flings
At once a thousand streamy stings—
They cut the wave with the living oar
And hurry on to the moonlight shore,
To guard their realm and chase away
The footsteps of the invading fay.
[Poems by Drake in] The life and works of Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820) | ||