Poem by Herman Melville

The Figure-Head

     The Charles-and-Emma seaward sped,
     (Named from the carven pair at prow,)
     He so smart, and a curly head,
     She tricked forth as a bride knows how:
     Pretty stem for the port, I trow!

     But iron-rust and alum-spray
     And chafing gear, and sun and dew
     Vexed this lad and lassie gay,
     Tears in their eyes, salt tears nor few;
       And the hug relaxed with the failing glue.

     But came in end a dismal night,
     With creaking beams and ribs that groan,
     A black lee-shore and waters white:
     Dropped on the reef, the pair lie prone:
       O, the breakers dance, but the winds they
         moan!

1. The Enviable Isles
2. Old Counsel
3. The Night March
4. Lines Traced under an Image of Amor Threatening
5. To the Master of the Meteor

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