On Calais Sands

Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)



ON Calais Sands the gray began,  
 Then rosy red above they gray;  
The morn with many a scarlet van  
 Leaped, and the world was glad with May!  
The little waves along the bay
 Broke white upon the shelving strands;  
The sea-mews flitted white as they  
       On Calais Sands!  
 
On Calais Sands must man with man  
 Wash honor clean in blood to-day;
On spaces wet from waters wan  
 How white the flashing rapiers play,—  
Parry, riposte! and lunge! The fray  
 Shifts for a while, then mournful stands  
The Victor: life ebbs fast away
       On Calais Sands!  
 
On Calais Sands a little space  
 Of silence, then the plash and spray,  
The sound of eager waves that ran  
 To kiss the perfumed locks astray,
To touch these lips that ne’er said “Nay,”  
 To dally with the helpless hands,  
Till the deep sea in silence lay  
       On Calais Sands!  
 
Between the lilac and the may
 She waits her love from alien lands;  
Her love is colder than the clay  
       On Calais Sands!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
109

Quick analysis:

Scheme ababbcbC abxbbcbC xbabbcbC bcbC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 979
Words 172
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 4

Andrew Lang

Andrew Richard Lang FRS CBE was a British scientist and crystallographer. more…

All Andrew Lang poems | Andrew Lang Books

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