by Sidney Lanier (1842 - 1881)
The ship of earth
Language: English
Thou Ship of Earth, with Death, and Birth, and Life, and Sex aboard, And fires of Desires burning hotly in the hold, I fear thee, O! I fear thee, for I hear the tongue and sword At battle on the deck, and the wild mutineers are bold! The dewdrop morn may fall from off the petal of the sky, But all the deck is wet with blood and stains the crystal red. A pilot, God, a pilot! For the helm is left awry, And the best sailors in the ship lie there among the dead!
Text Authorship:
- by Sidney Lanier (1842 - 1881), "The ship of earth" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Bruce Trinkley (b. 1945), "The ship of earth", from Sidney Lanier Songs, no. 1. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: John Glenn Paton [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-16
Line count: 8
Word count: 95