Famous Mariners Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Mariners poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous mariners poems. These examples illustrate what a famous mariners poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

See also:

A Tale of the Sea

...he midst of danger and strife;
And I hope that all landsmen of low and high degree,
Will think of the hardships of poor mariners while at sea....Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz


Burning Drift-Wood

...hose alone 
Which Love had freighted, safely sped, 
Seeking a good beyond my own, 
By clear-eyed Duty piloted. 

O mariners, hoping still to meet 
The luck Arabian voyagers met, 
And find in Bagdad's moonlit street, 
Haroun al Raschid walking yet, 

Take with you, on your Sea of Dreams, 
The fair, fond fancies dear to youth. 
I turn from all that only seems, 
And seek the sober grounds of truth. 

What matter that it is not May, 
That birds have flown, and tre...Read more of this...
by Whittier, John Greenleaf

Comus

...all or bower.
 Bacchus, that first from out the purple grape
Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine,
After the Tuscan mariners transformed,
Coasting the Tyrrhene shore, as the winds listed,
On Circe's island fell. (Who knows not Circe,
The daughter of the Sun, whose charmed cup
Whoever tasted lost his upright shape,
And downward fell into a grovelling swine?)
This Nymph, that gazed upon his clustering locks,
With ivy berries wreathed, and his blithe youth,
Had by him, ere h...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Epipsychidion (excerpt)

...that path before;
The halcyons brood around the foamless isles;
The treacherous Ocean has forsworn its wiles;
The merry mariners are bold and free:
Say, my heart's sister, wilt thou sail with me?
Our bark is as an albatross, whose nest
Is a far Eden of the purple East;
And we between her wings will sit, while Night,
And Day, and Storm, and Calm, pursue their flight,
Our ministers, along the boundless Sea,
Treading each other's heels, unheededly.
It is an isle under Ionian ski...Read more of this...
by Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Heroic Stanzas

...d his arms dispose 
Her land to civilize as to subdue. 

18

Nor was he like those stars which only shine 
When to pale mariners they storms portend; 
He had his calmer influence, and his mien 
Did love and majesty together blend. 

19

'Tis true, his count'nance did imprint an awe, 
And naturally all souls to his did bow, 
As wands of divination downward draw 
And points to beds where sov'reign gold doth grow. 

20

When past all offerings to Feretrian Jove, 
He Mars depos'd...Read more of this...
by Dryden, John


In The Small Hours

...athes velvet drapes,
Dims the cave of mirrors. Ghost fingers
Comb seaweed hair, stroke acquamarine veins
Of marooned mariners, captives
Of Circe's sultry notes. The barman
Dispenses igneous potions ?
Somnabulist, the band plays on.

Cocktail mixer, silvery fish
Dances for limpet clients.
Applause is steeped in lassitude,
Tangled in webs of lovers' whispers
And artful eyelash of the androgynous.
The hovering notes caress the night
Mellowed deep indigo ?still they...Read more of this...
by Soyinka, Wole

Inchcape Rock

...the storm it floated and swung, 
And over the waves its warning rung.

When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell, 
The Mariners heard the warning Bell; 
And then they knew the perilous Rock, 
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok

The Sun in the heaven was shining gay, 
All things were joyful on that day; 
The sea-birds scream’d as they wheel’d round, 
And there was joyaunce in their sound. 

The buoy of the Inchcpe Bell was seen
A darker speck on the ocean green; 
Sir Ralph th...Read more of this...
by Southey, Robert

Ravenna

...with joy each eager runner's face,
As the red cross which saveth men in war,
As a flame-bearded beacon seen from far
By mariners upon a storm-tossed sea, -
Such was his love for Greece and Liberty!

Byron, thy crowns are ever fresh and green:
Red leaves of rose from Sapphic Mitylene
Shall bind thy brows; the myrtle blooms for thee,
In hidden glades by lonely Castaly;
The laurels wait thy coming: all are thine,
And round thy head one perfect wreath will twine.


V.


The pine-...Read more of this...
by Wilde, Oscar

Rosalind and Helen: a Modern Eclogue

...babes, delightful more,
In my lost soul's abandoned night,
Than their own country ships may be
Sailing towards wrecked mariners
Who cling to the rock of a wintry sea.
For each, as it came, brought soothing tears;
And a loosening warmth, as each one lay
Sucking the sullen milk away,
About my frozen heart did play,
And weaned it, oh, how painfully-- 
As they themselves were weaned each one
From that sweet food--even from the thirst
Of death, and nothingness, and rest,
Strange ...Read more of this...
by Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Salut au Monde

...s islands, 
The inland fresh-tasted seas of North America, 
The White Sea, and the sea around Greenland. 

I behold the mariners of the world;
Some are in storms—some in the night, with the watch on the look-out; 
Some drifting helplessly—some with contagious diseases. 

I behold the sail and steamships of the world, some in clusters in port, some on their
 voyages;

Some double the Cape of Storms—some Cape Verde,—others Cape Guardafui, Bon, or Bajadore; 
Others Dondra Head—o...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

Song of Myself

...nd branches of lilac; 
This is the lexicographer—this the chemist—this made a grammar of the
 old cartouches; 
These mariners put the ship through dangerous unknown seas; 
This is the geologist—this works with the scalpel—and this is a
 mathematician. 

Gentlemen! to you the first honors always:
Your facts are useful and real—and yet they are not my dwelling; 
(I but enter by them to an area of my dwelling.) 

Less the reminders of properties told, my words; 
And ...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

Song of the Lotos-Eaters

...ber is more sweet than toil, the shore 
Than labour in the deep mid-ocean, wind and wave and oar; 
O rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more. ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Street Cries

...mix about the scene
And fill the Time with forms of ancient mien?

"Bright ladies and brave knights of Fatherland;
Sad mariners, no harbor e'er may hold,
A swan soft floating tow'rds a magic strand;
Dim ghosts, of earth, air, water, fire, steel, gold,
Wind, grief, and love; a lewd and lurking band
Of Powers -- dark Conspiracy, Cunning cold,
Gray Sorcery; magic cloaks and rings and rods;
Valkyries, heroes, Rhinemaids, giants, gods!

* * * * *

"O Wagner, westward bring thy he...Read more of this...
by Lanier, Sidney

The Ballad of Fishers Boarding-House

...shame.

She held a dozen men to heel --
 Rich spoil of war was hers,
In hose and gown and ring and chain,
 From twenty mariners,
And, by Port Law, that week, men called
 her Salem Hardieker's.

But seamen learnt -- what landsmen know --
 That neither gifts nor gain
Can hold a winking Light o' Love
 Or Fancy's flight restrain,
When Anne of Austria rolled her eyes
 On Hans the blue-eyed Dane.

Since Life is strife, and strife means knife,
 From Howrah to the Bay,
And he may di...Read more of this...
by Kipling, Rudyard

The Doomed Ship

...The doomed ship drives on helpless through the sea, 
All that the mariners may do is done 
And death is left for men to gaze upon, 
While side by side two friends sit silently; 
Friends once, foes once, and now by death made free 
Of Love and Hate, of all things lost or won; 
Yet still the wonder of that strife bygone 
Clouds all the hope or horror that may be. 

Thus, Sorrow, are we sitting side by side 
Amid this welter ...Read more of this...
by Morris, William

The Farewell XXVIII

...nd restless are the sails; 

Even the rudder begs direction; 

Yet quietly my captain awaits my silence. 

And these my mariners, who have heard the choir of the greater sea, they too have heard me patiently. 

Now they shall wait no longer. 

I am ready. 

The stream has reached the sea, and once more the great mother holds her son against her breast. 

Fare you well, people of Orphalese. 

This day has ended. 

It is closing upon us even as the water-lily upon its own tomor...Read more of this...
by Gibran, Kahlil

The Lotos-eaters

...lumber is more sweet than toil, the shore
Than labour in the deep mid-ocean, wind and wave and oar;
O, rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more.Credits and CopyrightTogether with the editors, the Department ofEnglish (University of Toronto), and the University of Toronto Press,the following individuals share copyright for the work that wentinto this edition:Screen Design (Electronic Edition): Sian Meikle (University ofToronto Library)Scanning: Sharine Leung (Centre ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

...h!

And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariners' hollo!

In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine;
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,
Glimmered the white Moon-shine.'

'God save thee, ancient Mariner!
From the fiends, that plague thee thus!--
Why look'st thou so?'--'With my cross-bow
I shot the Albatross.'

PART TWO

THE Sun now rose upon the righ...Read more of this...
by Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

The Witch Of Atlas

..."is the strife
Which stirs the liquid surface of man's life."

And little did the sight disturb her soul.
We, the weak mariners of that wide lake,
Where'er its shores extend or billows roll,
Our course unpiloted and starless make
O'er its wild surface to an unknown goal;
But she in the calm depths her way could take,
Where in bright bowers immortal forms abide
Beneath the weltering of the restless tide.

And she saw princes couched under the glow
Of sunlike gems; and round e...Read more of this...
by Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Ulysses

...m gone. He works his work, I mine.

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age had yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Go...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Mariners poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter