John Davidson (1857-1909). Song: 'The boat is chafing at our long delay'. Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. 1922. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse

Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922.

Song: ‘The boat is chafing at our long delay’

By John Davidson (1857–1909)


THE BOAT is chafing at our long delay,
And we must leave too soon
The spicy sea-pinks and the inborne spray,
The tawny sands, the moon.

Keep us, O Thetis, in our western flight!	5
Watch from thy pearly throne
Our vessel, plunging deeper into night
To reach a land unknown.