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Famous Salt Water Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Carroll, Lewis
..., an umbrella for three--
That I hate, but the thing that I hate the most
 Is a thing they call the Sea.

Pour some salt water over the floor--
 Ugly I'm sure you'll allow it to be:
Suppose it extended a mile or more,
 That's very like the Sea.

Beat a dog till it howls outright--
 Cruel, but all very well for a spree:
Suppose that he did so day and night,
 That would be like the Sea.

I had a vision of nursery-maids;
 Tens of thousands passed by me--
All leading ...Read more of this...



by Sandburg, Carl
...The brag of its tone, like a long low steamboat whistle
Finding a way mid mist on a shoreland,
Where gray rocks let the salt water shatter spray
Against horizons purple, silent.


Yes, Momus,
Men have flung your face in bronze
To gaze in gargoyle downward on a street-whirl of folk.
They were artists did this, shaped your sad mouth,
Gave you a tall forehead slanted with calm, broad wisdom;
All your lips to the corners and your cheeks to the high bones
Thrown over and t...Read more of this...

by Sandburg, Carl
...Sandland where the salt water kills the sweet potatoes.
Homes for sandpipers—the script of their feet is on the sea shingles—they write in the morning, it is gone at noon—they write at noon, it is gone at night.
Pity the land, the sea, the ten mile flats, pity anything but the sandpiper’s wire legs and feet....Read more of this...

by García Lorca, Federico
....

The branches die of love.

Naked the night sings
above the bridges of March.
Lolita bathes her body
with salt water and roses.

The branches die of love.

The night of anise and silver
shines over the rooftops.
Silver of streams and mirrors
Anise of your white thighs.

The branches die of love....Read more of this...

by Nesbit, Edith
...shot full of these electric bolts.
Zing! A resurrection!

Once it was a boat, quite wooden
and with no business, no salt water under it
and in need of some paint. It was no more
than a group of boards. But you hoisted her, rigged her.
She's been elected.

My nerves are turned on. I hear them like
musical instruments. Where there was silence
the drums, the strings are incurably playing. You did this.
Pure genius at work. Darling, the com...Read more of this...



by Carroll, Lewis
..., an umbrella for three - 
That I hate, but the thing that I hate the most
Is a thing they call the SEA.

Pour some salt water over the floor - 
Ugly I'm sure you'll allow it to be:
Suppose it extended a mile or more,
That's very like the SEA.

Beat a dog till it howls outright - 
Cruel, but all very well for a spree;
Suppose that one did so day and night,
That would be like the SEA.

I had a vision of nursery-maids;
Tens of thousands passed by me - 
All leading c...Read more of this...

by Hunt, James Henry Leigh
...You strange, astonished-looking, angle-faced, 
Dreary-mouthed, gaping wretches of the sea, 
Gulping salt-water everlastingly, 
Cold-blooded, though with red your blood be graced, 
And mute, though dwellers in the roaring waste; 
And you, all shapes beside, that fishy be,-- 
Some round, some flat, some long, all devilry, 
Legless, unloving, infamously chast...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...y did crave. 

Poor souls they expected to be engulfed every hour,
And to appease their hunger they made dough with salt water and flour;
And made a sort of hard cake placed over a griddle hole,
To satisfy their hunger, which, alas! is hard to thole. 

And two of these cakes each man got per day,
Which the poor creatures devoured in a ravenous way;
Along with a little fresh water to wash it down,
Which they most thankfully praised God for and didn't frown. 

And o...Read more of this...

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