A Channel Passage Poem by Rupert Brooke

A Channel Passage

Rating: 2.5


The damned ship lurched and slithered. Quiet and quick
My cold gorge rose; the long sea rolled; I knew
I must think hard of something, or be sick;
And could think hard of only one thing -- YOU!
You, you alone could hold my fancy ever!
And with you memories come, sharp pain, and dole.
Now there's a choice -- heartache or tortured liver!
A sea-sick body, or a you-sick soul!

Do I forget you? Retchings twist and tie me,
Old meat, good meals, brown gobbets, up I throw.
Do I remember? Acrid return and slimy,
The sobs and slobber of a last years woe.
And still the sick ship rolls. 'Tis hard, I tell ye,
To choose 'twixt love and nausea, heart and belly.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Michael Harmon 26 June 2009

So good at expressing the feelings, this sonnet could almost make the reader nauseated, as well. We lost at least two great poets (that I know of) in WW1, Wilfred Owen and this one. Along with all the other lives lost, such an incalculable waste...

2 1 Reply
Dan Ho 22 May 2018

my english teacher got me here

0 0 Reply
Jeffry Bob 12 March 2018

This is well gay hope evyone jercked off to this

0 1 Reply
Steve who believes 11 December 2017

I believe this is great

1 0 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 26 November 2016

Now there is a choice - heartache or tortured liver Excellent conceptualization.

0 2 Reply
Stephen W 06 May 2014

Rings true. So much of his work is vain or sentimental, but this one is the real deal, I feel.

1 2 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Rupert Brooke

Rupert Brooke

Warwickshire / England
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