Sailor’s Rest

A Portion of Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ painted in 1889



Sailing free on the emerald sea

Is the sailor’s dream and glee

Dancing on rhythmic waves

He revels in life and forgets the past.

His body is warmed by the summer sun,

And it is cooled by the flying spray.



He feels the wind upon his cheeks,

And sets his sails for the place he seeks.

Be it a secret haven close to heaven

Where albatrosses soar and porpoises leap,

Or a quiet bay with a transparent deep,

There in the lee of a palm-fringed beach



Where jewelled fish shoal and play

And silver sharks hunt their prey.

Wavelets lap upon golden sand;

Shadows lengthen with dipping orb

From bright blue to scarlet hue;

Darkness doth absorb.



Starry night, balmy air,

Crescent moon appears.

Soundings found, fathoms deep,

Our Sailor drops his hook.

Peaceful night and eternal sleep

In the lee of a palm-fringed beach.