The Wreck of the `Derry Castle’
The Wreck of the `Derry Castle’ - meaning Summary
Sea's Indifferent Mourning
Lawson’s poem responds to the wreck of the Derry Castle by dwelling on the sea’s relentless indifference and the human cost of shipwreck. The speaker watches ‘‘ghastly, sodden’’ corpses and hears the ocean celebrate its power, while grief turns to urgent prayer and pleading with God to hide the drowned faces. The tone mixes communal mourning and personal horror, emphasizing nature’s callousness and the fragile visibility of lost lives.
Read Complete AnalysesDay of ending for beginnings! Ocean hath another innings, Ocean hath another score; And the surges sing his winnings, And the surges shout his winnings, And the surges shriek his winnings, All along the sullen shore. Sing another dirge in wailing, For another vessel sailing With the shadow-ships at sea; Shadow-ships for ever sinking Shadow-ships whose pumps are clinking, And whose thirsty holds are drinking Pledges to Eternity. Pray for souls of ghastly, sodden Corpses, floating round untrodden Cliffs, where nought but sea-drift strays; Souls of dead men, in whose faces Of humanity no trace is Not a mark to show their races Floating round for days and days. . . . . . Ocean’s salty tongues are licking Round the faces of the drowned, And a cruel blade seems sticking Through my heart and turning round. Heaven! shall HIS ghastly, sodden Corpse float round for days and days? Shall it dash ‘neath cliffs untrodden, Rocks where nought but sea-drift strays? God in heaven! hide the floating, Falling, rising, face from me; God in heaven! stay the gloating, Mocking singing of the sea!
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