We are pitiful like ships

still afloat in perilous breaking waters

of which no one will see the other side

while silence lays heavy on the land

like a dead man's cloak;

 

Some few cry in dark night as beacons,

to forbid the wake of a coming disaster,

and truly no ship does shore rocky coasts

for fear of fading light's travail;

 

Some strong will fail for silence' sake,

and some sailors will continue

to stand the livings' mast

just out of liberty's earshot

while the stormy sound of the sea

rages recklessly onward.