Steve Mentz

THE BOOKFISH

THALASSOLOGY, SHAKESPEARE, AND SWIMMING

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a fragment from W. S. Merwin

September 2, 2010 by Steve Mentz Leave a Comment

They began to go

To pieces at once under the waves’ hammer.

Sick at heart since that first stroke, they moved

Nevertheless as they had learned always to move

When it should come, not weighing hope against

The weight of the water, yet knowing that no breath

Would escape to betray what they underwent then.

Dazed, incredulous, that it had come,

That they could recognize it….

…And to some it seemed that the waves

Grew gentle, spared them, while they died of that knowledge.

“The Shipwreck” (Green with Beasts, 1956)

Filed Under: Blue Humanities, Sea Poetry, The Tempest

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About Steve

Steve Mentz
Professor of English
St. John’s University
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  • Coastal Studies Reading Group
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