The Whale

The Whale that wanders round the Pole
Is not a table fish.
You cannot bake or boil him whole
Nor serve him in a dish;

But you may cut his blubber up
And melt it down for oil.
And so replace the colza bean
(A product of the soil).

These facts should all be noted down
And ruminated on,
By every boy in Oxford town

Who wants to be a Don.

Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian, known for his poetry, essays, and children's books. Born on July 27, 1870, in France, he became a British citizen and was a prominent figure in early 20th-century British literature. Belloc was a devout Catholic, which significantly influenced his writings. He was a close friend of G.K. Chesterton and shared similar views on social and political issues. Belloc passed away on July 16, 1953, leaving behind a rich legacy of literary works.

Hilaire Belloc

The Pacifist

Hilaire Belloc, Simple Poetry

Talking (And Singing) Of The Nordic Man

Hilaire Belloc, Simple Poetry

The Vulture

Hilaire Belloc, Simple Poetry

The Big Baboon

Hilaire Belloc, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

A Whale.

THE con-sci-en-tious art-ist tries
On-ly to draw what meets his eyes.
This is the Whale; he seems to be
A spout of wa-ter in the sea.
Now, Hux-ley from one bone could make
An un-known beast; so if I take
This spout of wa-ter, and from thence
Con-struct a Whale by in-fer-ence,
A Whale, I ven-ture to as-sert,
Must be an an-i-mat-ed squirt!
Thus, chil-dren, we the truth may sift
By use of Log-ic's Price-less Gift.

Oliver Herford

The Whale

The Whale is found in seas and oceans,
Indulging there in fishlike motions,
But Science shows that Whales are mammals,
Like Jersey cows, and goats, and camels.

When undisturbed, the Whale will browse
Like camels, goats, and Jersey cows,
On food that satisfies its tongue,
Thus making milk to feed its young.

Asking no costly hay and oats,
Like camels, Jersey cows, and goats,
The Whale, prolific milk producer,
Should be our cheapest lactic juicer.

Our milk should all come from the sea,
But who, I ask, would want to be,
And here the proposition fails,
The milkmaid to a herd of Whales?

Ellis Parker Butler

The Quaker Graveyard In Nantucket

(For Warren Winslow, Dead At Sea)
Let man have dominion over the fishes of the sea and
the fowls of the air and the beasts and the whole earth,
and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

I
A brackish reach of shoal off Madaket,
The sea was still breaking violently and night
Had steamed into our North Atlantic Fleet,
When the drowned sailor clutched the drag-net. Light
Flashed from his matted head and marble feet,
He grappled at the net
With the coiled, hurdling muscles of his thighs:
The corpse was bloodless, a botch of reds and whites,
Its open, staring eyes
Were lustreless dead-lights
Or cabin-windows on a stranded hulk
Heavy with sand. We weight the body, close
Its eyes and heave it seaward whence it came,
Where the heel-headed ...

Robert Lowell

Bear And Whale.

A fable of the British and Russian dispute of 1885.


        Russians suffer sad distress
        For lack of freedom of the press,
        But oft' times they are full able
        To enlighten with a fable.

        And they enjoy a humorous tale
        Of a bear and monster whale,
        The bear he went to the sea shore
        The mighty ocean to explore.

        And this it quick enraged the whale
        Who beat the ocean with his tail,
        With foaming words he told the bear
        That he would strip his hide and hair.

        If he ever found him more
        Encroaching on his sea shore,
        The bear replied I will not quail
        At frothing words of any whale.

        For you are a lump of blubb...

James McIntyre

Sailor's Yarn.

        While voyaging on northern seas
        For days we could not catch a breeze,
        But were held fast as if in vice
        Surrounded by the bergs of ice,
        We could not move the ship or boat
        But on low, flat iceberg we did float;
        Of provisions we took good store
        With big oars we rowed the berg to shore,
        And pride and joy each one feels
        When we had caught ten thousand seals,
        And our brave boys each one they dare
        To boldly capture great white bear;
        On floating berg we built with boards
        A storehouse for to hold our hordes,
        We had a stove and stock of coal,
        So we enjoyed this voyage droll,
        In centre of berg we dug a hole
        And erected a str...

James McIntyre

The Fishermen

Hurrah! the seaward breezes
Sweep down the bay amain;
Heave up, my lads, the anchor!
Run up the sail again!
Leave to the lubber landsmen
The rail-car and the steed;
The stars of heaven shall guide us,
The breath of heaven shall speed.
From the hill-top looks the steeple,
And the lighthouse from the sand;
And the scattered pines are waving
Their farewell from the land.
One glance, my lads, behind us,
For the homes we leave one sigh,
Ere we take the change and chances
Of the ocean and the sky.
Now, brothers, for the icebergs
Of frozen Labrador,
Floating spectral in the moonshine,
Along the low, black shore!
Where like snow the gannet's feathers
On Brador's rocks are shed,
And the noisy murr are flying,
Like black scuds, overhea...

John Greenleaf Whittier