by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)
Young Sea
Language: English
The sea is never still. It pounds on the shore Restless as a young heart, Hunting. The sea speaks And only the stormy hearts Know what it says: It is the face of a rough mother speaking. The sea is young. One storm cleans all the hoar And loosens the age of it. I hear it laughing, reckless. They love the sea, Men who ride on it And know they will die Under the salt of it. Let only the young come, Says the sea. Let them kiss my face And hear me. I am the last word And I tell Where storms and stars come from.
Confirmed with Carl Sandburg, Poetry for young people, New York : Sterling, 2008, p.10
Text Authorship:
- by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), "Young Sea", appears in Chicago Poems, first published 1916, copyright status unknown [author's text checked 1 time 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 Jodi Goble (b. 1974), "Young Sea" [ soprano and piano ], from Sea Creatures, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-10-09
Line count: 24
Word count: 107