Sailing Down The Chesapeake
Sailing Down the Chesapeakeby, M. T. Borders Tonight I sailOn the stiff back of a galeNever looking backSeldom dropping sailAll I have knownIs the lonesome seaNothing else has loves so muchand all else I have loved has left me Last week I docked in AnnapolisWhen the winds were stillAnd prayed for a powerful breezeTo give my sails their fillThe next morn I left for Solomin'sUnder a reefed Main and a number fourBeating into the wavesIn search of another timely moore Last night I anchored in TangierBeing chased into port by a Nor-western windAnd held fast in a storm shelterTo wait for the storm's endAnd the Bay's water ravagedAs the rain swirrled aroundThe wind howeled through the riggingMaking that woefull sound. I think that I will sail to HamptonAnd try my luck in the southern BayMy trusty boat and I sail the breezeWatching the future fade awayAnd I pray that God speed my passageBy sending me this powerful galeFor I wish to sail the southern watersSo tonight I sail.
Replies
Awww...that is so beautiful....makes me want to be near the water :(
Great Job!!!!!
Some people don\'t read into it enough to see the dark and lonely overtones in the poem.
\"Nothing else has loved so much, and all else I have loved has left me\" is just one example of this. Truely, I feel this way sometimes myself.
Beating in sailing terms is sailing upwind. The way that this is accomplished is by sailing 45 degree angles into the wind and tacking back and forth. This is a less desirable point of sail because you, effectively, sail twice the distance.
At one part of the poem I speak of wind howling through the rigging, making that woeful sound. In high winds the wind does make a very unnerving sound through the rigging. It is a howl. Sailors of old would often compare it to that of a woman lamenting the death of her lover at sea.
The poem does end in a hopeful note when it speaks of sailing the southern waters. It is like the subject in this poem sees the future as still being open and not closed.
Matt, you are an awesome poet. I really like your sailing poems. And, yes, I did catch the undertones of the first stanza there. Very creative and it is very beautiful despite the dark and lonely overtones. There can be beauty in that as well.
Hugs!
Wow, sweetheart ur work gets better and better.Sorry ur feeling so lonely.hugs sweetheart,luv ur friend luci