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The Dismantled Ship.
In some unused lagoon, some nameless bay,
On sluggish, lonesome, muddy waters, anchor'd
near the shore,
An old, dismasted, gray and batter'd ship,
disabled, done and broken,
After free voyages to all the seas of earth, haul'd
up at last and hawser'd tight,
Lies rusting, mouldering.
WALT WHITMAN.
Notes
1. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888). [back]
2. In the "Sands at Seventy" printing of this poem, Whitman omitted "muddy" from the second line. [back]
3. In the "Sands at Seventy" printing of this poem, "and broken" does not appear in the third line. [back]