Sonnets Round the Coast by H. D. Rawnsley |
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 | Sonnets Round the Coast |  |
79
III. A LAUNCH FROM THE FURNESS DOCKS.
Dread expectation seals our open lips:A hundred hammers fall, their work is done;
Out from the keel the busy craftsmen run,
The tender riband that a child's hand snips,
Looses the giant down the groaning slips,
And, with a thrill of life through every ton,
It leaves behind a rift of sky and sun,
And plunges seaward, mightiest of ships.
A toy, the ponderous anchor leapt and ploughed,
But ere the smoking of its passage died,
I saw the breakers turn and toss ashore
The flotsam of its cradle-timbers proud,
Prelude of wreck, indignant that it bore
Another burden laid upon the tide.
| Sonnets Round the Coast | |