William Henry Davies
The Collected Poems of William H. Davies
Gone are the days of canvas sails!
No more great sailors tell their tales
In country taverns, barter pearls
For kisses from strange little girls:
And when the landlord’s merry daughter
Heard their rough jokes and shrieked with laughter,
They threw a muffler of rare fur
That hid her neck from ear to ear.
Ho, ho! my merry men; they know
Where gold is plentiful—Sail ho!
How they did love the rude wild Sea!
The rude, unflattering Sea; for he
Will not lie down for monarch’s yacht,
No more than merchant’s barge; he’ll not
Keep graves with marks of wood or stone
For fish or fowl, or human bone.