The Tempest

The sail is torn, the rudder bursts, the waters roar,

All people yell, the pumps release a baleful wail,

The ropes yanked out of deckhands’ palms: we’ve lost the sail!

Lo! Sun in blood-shade setting, hope there is no more.

The gale in triumph howls, and on the sodden hills

That rise above the chaos of the fatal sea,

A genius of death ascended, and now he

Assails the fortress long destroyed and further kills.

Some on the deck lie dying, drowning in despair;