The Wanderer
- THE ships are lying in the bay,
- The gulls are swinging round their spars;
- My soul as eagerly as they
- Desires the margin of the stars.
- So much do I love wandering,
- So much I love the sea and sky,
- That it will be a piteous thing
- In one small grave to lie.
- Zoë Akins (1886 - 1958)
Bob Blair from The Poet's Corner explains that this verse is from
The Second Book of Modern Verse published in 1919. Zoë Akins was best known for her
light comedies for the stage, and at least one
drama (Edith Wharton's
The Old Maid), as well as several screen plays. As an actress who turned to writing she became a successful
American poet. Poetry was more of a hobby than a job for her and
The Wanderer is one of her outstanding poems.
Sources:
Blair, Bob:
http://www.geocities.com/~bblair/0622.htm
Public domain text taken from The Poets’ Corner:
http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/akins01.html#3
CST Approved.