The Sea Change
The Sea Change
Original Text
Rosemarie Rowley, The Sea of Affliction
(Dublin: Rowan Tree Press, 1987): 61.
3Passive, quiet, with bent and covered head,
4Enduring all. Beneath the tough rim, blind.
5I take it in my hand, not grabbing, stroking,
6The tale of tumultuous and terrible seas
7Etched on its back, the ministry of water
8Leaving impressions where the heart had faltered.
9Your modest hum, your humble introversion,
10Denies at root the need for soul's exertion,
12To make and trust, above all, live in faith.
13And hope that He who tamed the seas,
Notes
1] crenellations: crests, embattlements. Back to Line
2] limpet: a open-shelled, rock-clinging mollusc. Back to Line
11] eye: the uttermost point of the spiral of a shell (OED, "eye. 1," 22b). Back to Line
14] As revised for this edition by the poet from "until at last it freezes" (1987). Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2007
Rhyme
Form
Special Copyright
Copyright © Rosemarie Rowley 2007. Not to be republished without permission of the poet.