Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By StephenCrane

1632 I Explain

I EXPLAIN the silvered passing of a ship at night,

The sweep of each sad lost wave,

The dwindling boom of the steel thing’s striving,

The little cry of a man to a man,

A shadow falling across the grayer night,

And the sinking of the small star;

Then the waste, the far waste of waters,

And the soft lashing of black waves

For long and in loneliness.

Remember, thou, O ship of love,

Thou leavest a far waste of waters,

And the soft lashing of black waves

For long and in loneliness.