Whether My Bark Went Down at Sea
poem 52
Whether My Bark Went Down at Sea - meaning Summary
Voyage as Uncertain Fate
The poem uses a small ship as a metaphor for a person or fate, listing possible outcomes—sinking, storms, or idyllic arrival—then shifts to present uncertainty. The speaker accepts not knowing how the vessel reached its current state and frames the observer’s task as simple, patient looking. The final image makes perception itself the poem’s purpose: to gaze out and acknowledge mystery rather than resolve it.
Read Complete AnalysesWhether my bark went down at sea Whether she met with gales Whether to isles enchanted She bent her docile sails By what mystic mooring She is held today This is the errand of the eye Out upon the Bay.
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