Sleeping Sea

The sea
Was even as a little child that sleeps
And keeps
All night its great unconsciousness of day.
No spray
Flashed when the wave rose, drooped, and slowly drew away.
No sound
From all that slumbering, full-bosomed water came;
The sea
Lay mute in childlike sleep, the moon was a gold candle-flame.
No sound
Save when a faint and mothlike air fluttered around.
No sound:
But as a child that dreams and in his full sleep cries,
So turned the sleeping sea and heaved her bosom of slow sighs.

John Frederick Freeman

John Frederick Freeman was a British poet, notable as a Georgian poet. He was born in London and worked initially as an office boy and later as a clerk before gaining recognition for his poetic works. Freeman primarily wrote about nature, identity, and the human condition. Over the course of his literary career, he published several books of poetry, and his works were praised for their sincerity and technical excellence. His notable collections include 'Presage of Victory' and 'Stone Trees.'

John Frederick Freeman

Strife

John Frederick Freeman, Simple Poetry

Sweet England

John Frederick Freeman, Simple Poetry

Grasses

John Frederick Freeman, Simple Poetry

Snows

John Frederick Freeman, Simple Poetry

English

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Falls from her heaven the Moon, and stars sink burning
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Hampton Beach

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Waking

Lying beneath a hundred seas of sleep
With all those heavy waves flowing over me,
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It was a sleep
So dark and so bewilderingly deep
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The Light That Never Was On Sea Or Land

O gone are now those eager great glad days of days, but I remember
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I remember how elate I swung upon the thrusting bowsprits,
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O gone are now those mighty ships I haunted days and days together,
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The Lamp

The lamp shone golden where she slept,
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Her hair spread dark in that faint light,
Her shut eyes showed the long dark lashes--
Still now, that with her laughter quivered.
On the white sheet lay white
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