This poem was shared on Sunday by poet Jayne Jaudon Ferrer at Your Daily Poem. I've enjoyed the daily poem. Jayne's accessible choices are a great way to begin a writing day, or any other kind for that matter. "Shipwreck" felt like a perfect way to end this Valentines Day week of blogging about explorers. Luís Vaz de Camões (1524 - 1580) was a Portuguese poet who lived just a few years after the Conquistadors conquered the Incas and the Aztecs.
Shipwreck
by Luís Vaz de Camões
Like the weary sailor, the refugee
from wreck and storm, who escapes half-dead,
and then, in terror, shudders with dread
at the very mention of the name of the ‘sea’;
who swears he’ll never sail again, who raves
he’ll stay at home, even on the calmest days,
but then, in time, forgets his fearful ways,
and seeks, again, his fortune above the waves;
I, too, have barely escaped the storms that revolve
around you, my love, traveling far away,
vowing to avoid another catastrophe,
but I can’t, the thought of you breaks my resolve,
and so, I return to where, on that fateful day,
I nearly drowned in your tempestuous sea.
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Love this metaphor! Haven't we all been like that sailor at some point, vowing never to return, then returning? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Irene. We've all been there. Fortunately we didn't go down with the ship.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...so dark! Pretty though in a macabre love kind of way. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is dark, Carlie, but it rang true with all the dark adventures of these explorers.
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