literature

The heart of a steamboat

Deviation Actions

williamszm's avatar
By
Published:
1.7K Views

Literature Text

Now I am toiling in a sea of ruin
against the rush of waves, and tearing grasp
of algae underneath the clouding froth
and battered up against the cracking rocks
I reach and find my finger-tips are torn

and every bulwark that I build is lost
in shattered spars, and iron nails all scraped
on beaten stone, and splintered wood. They fall
to rust amongst a sand of crumpled shells.

I build and build and all is swept away
into the raging sea; into the fray
of shipwreck sores on putrefying reefs
where long-lipped fishes float, and spotted tails
of swaying eels decay. An octopus

crawls deeper in the darkness of his cave.
I try to swim; the salt keeps me afloat
but every breath is burning from the spray.

When wailing waves recede, and drenching hail
melts back into the surf, I will reclaim
the rough and ragged grip of weathered shore
beneath my slippered feet, and I will find
some warmth beneath my worsted-wool dyed cap
and I will swim until the fish remind
me of myself, and me of them. Their scales

will flash the rising sun in every shock
of sudden leap. When desperate storms disperse
I will dive down to scrape a shard of shell
into an eating-knife, and I will trail
the birds back to their rainstorm drinking-wells.

And when the night disturbs the rush of day
I will begin to build, and this time hope
that every arch of spar will somehow stay.
I finally finished Toilers of the Sea! Hugo is a big fav, so I'm glad I'm making progress through his works. Next up is Notre Dame.

Anyway, this poem is obviously inspired by the sea as Hugo describes it. I went for blank verse, and I hope you enjoy! Comments/critiques are always appreciated. :)
© 2015 - 2024 williamszm
Comments3
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Parsat's avatar
This is an example of some fine blank verse. Like the alliterative element too.