The Wreck of the Deutschland

The sea and the sour sky between them are one,
Black, vast, and shifting; and the sea-wind shrills,
And the sea-rain drives down, and the sea-hail spills,
And the sea-thunder breaks, and the sea-lightning, and the sea-waves run,
Heaving and leaping, and the great ships reel,
Till the mast cracks and the mast splits, and the mast-tree shivers,
And the hull splits and the hull shivers, and the hull heaves and shivers,
And the great ship groans, and the great waves shiver,
And the hull splits and the hull heaves and the hull shivers,
And the great ship groans, and the great waves shiver.
I am a God, and I will make man in mine own image,
And I will create him, and I will make him, and I will make him, and I will make him,
And I will make him, and I will make him.
So be it.
Amen.

About Gerard Manley Hopkins

Jesuit priest and poet, pioneer of sprung rhythm, whose innovative verse was published posthumously.

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