The YachtsBy William Carlos Williamscontend in a sea which the land partly enclosesshielding them from the too heavy blowsof an ungoverned ocean which when it choosestortures the biggest hulls, the best man knowsto pit against its beating, and sinks them pitilessly.Mothlike in mists, scintillant in the minutebrilliance of cloudless days, with broad bellying sailsthey glide … Continue reading “land partly encloses shielding them | My Assignment Tutor”
The YachtsBy William Carlos Williamscontend in a sea which the land partly enclosesshielding them from the too heavy blowsof an ungoverned ocean which when it choosestortures the biggest hulls, the best man knowsto pit against its beating, and sinks them pitilessly.Mothlike in mists, scintillant in the minutebrilliance of cloudless days, with broad bellying sailsthey glide to the wind tossing green waterfrom their sharp prows while over them the crew crawlsant-like, solicitously grooming them, releasing,making fast as they turn, lean far over and havingcaught the wind again, side by side, head for the mark.In a well-guarded arena of open water surrounded bylesser and greater craft which, sycophant, lumberingand flittering follow them, they appear youthful, rareas the light of a happy eye, live with the graceof all that in the mind is feckless, free andnaturally to be desired. Now the sea which holds themis moody, lapping their glossy sides, as if feelingfor some slightest flaw but fails completely.Today no race. Then the wind comes again. The yachtsmove, jockeying for a start, the signal is set and theyare off. Now the waves strike at them but they are toowell made, they slip through, though they take in canvas,Arms with hands grasping seek to clutch at the prows.Bodies thrown recklessly in the way are cut aside.It is a sea of faces about them in agony, in despairuntil the horror of the race dawns staggering the mind,the whole sea become an entanglement of watery bodieslost to the world bearing what they cannot hold. Broken,beaten, desolate, reaching from the dead to be taken upthey cry out, failing, failing! their cries risingin waves still as the skillful yachts pass over[1935]Citation:Williams, William Carlos. “The Yachts.” 20th-Century Poetry & Poetics, 5th 3ed., edited by GaryGeddes, Oxford UP, 2006, pp. 41-42.
