Classic Poem

I.

Drifting, drifting alone
O'er the wild waste of waters, while the day
Sinks swallowed in a haze of sullen grey
That hides cliff, shore, and down and creek and bay
No sound save waves that wail and winds that moan:
Drifting, drifting, drifting,
Drifting on alone!

II.

Drifting, drifting alone
Into the darkness of the inhuman sea
Love aided once, sweet Love, — now where is he?
Only the boat, the waves, the sky, and she.
The sail shrieks out, the racked planks creak and groan:
Drifting, drifting, drifting,
Drifting on alone!

III.

Drifting, drifting alone
Into the midnight, ninety miles away
From the old sunlit shores of yesterday
Between her and the land one ceaseless grey
Desert, whose billows in fierce monotone
Cry " Drifting, drifting, drifting,
Drifting to death, alone! "