In the gloomy ocean bed
Dwelt a formless thing, and said,
In the dim and countless eons long ago,
“I will build a stronghold high,
Ocean’s power to defy,
And the pride of haughty man to lay low.”
Crept the minutes for the sad,
Sped the cycles for the glad,
But the march of time was neither less nor more;
While the formless atom died,
Myriad millions by its side,
And above them slowly lifted Roncador.
Roncador of Caribee,
Coral dragon of the sea,
Ever sleeping with his teeth below the wave;
Woe to him who breaks the sleep!
Woe to them who sail the deep!
Woe to ship and man that fear a shipman’s grave!
Hither many a galleon old,
Heavy-keeled with guilty gold,
Fled before the hardy rover smiting sore;
But the sleeper silent lay
Till the preyer and his prey
Brought their plunder and their bones to Roncador.
Be content, O conqueror!
Now our bravest ship of war,
War and tempest who had often braved before,
All her storied prowess past,
Strikes her glorious flag at last
To the formless thing that builded Roncador.
(James Jeffrey Roche)
More Poetry from James Jeffrey Roche:
James Jeffrey Roche Poems based on Topics: Sadness, War & Peace, Time, Gold, Sleep, Pride, Past- The Fight Of The General Armstrong (James Jeffrey Roche Poems)
- The Men Of The Alamo (James Jeffrey Roche Poems)
- Albemarle Cushing (James Jeffrey Roche Poems)
- The Constitution (James Jeffrey Roche Poems)
- A Sailor's Yarn (James Jeffrey Roche Poems)
- A Business Transaction (James Jeffrey Roche Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Sadness Poems, Time Poems, War & Peace Poems, Sleep Poems, Gold Poems, Past Poems, Pride PoemsBased on Keywords: eons, shipman, preyer
- A Poem On The African Slave Trade. Addressed To Her Own Sex. Part II (Mary Birkett Card Poems)
- The Battle Of The Lake Regillus (Thomas Babbington Macaulay Poems)
- Fireflies (Rabindranath Tagore Poems)
- Kensington Garden (Thomas Tickell Poems)
- The Feast Of The Virgins - The Feast Of The Virgins (Hanford Lennox Gordon Poems)