The Galliass

The Galliass written by Walter de la Mare

The Veil and Other Poems (1921)

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'Tell me, tell me,
Unknown stranger,
When shall I sight me
That tall ship
On whose flower-wreathed counter is gilded, Sleep?'

'Landsman, landsman,
Lynx nor kestrel
Ne'er shall descry from
Ocean steep
That midnight-stealing, high-pooped galliass, Sleep.'

'Promise me, Stranger,
Though I mark not
When cold night-tide's
Shadows creep
Thou wilt keep unwavering watch for Sleep.'

'Myriad the lights are,
Wayworn landsman,
Rocking the dark through
On the deep:
She alone burns none to prove her Sleep.

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