Every May I am hit with a wave of wanderlust. Perhaps because we have moved so many times in the summer (4 of the last 10 summers). Perhaps because in the years we didn’t move we did big summer camping trips. In any case, my mind and heart are dreaming about travelling.
The kids want to return to Acadia this summer. We love Acadia — the tidepools, the sleepy fishing villages on the quiet side, the rugged coastline, the beautiful hikes, the sailboats. I have a weakness for sailboats. When we go to Acadia I can spend hours sitting by the water and watching them.
One afternoon, as we watched the sun set from the summit of Cadillac Mountain, a boat sailed out of the harbor and the setting sun caught her sails. Gearbox and I both immediately remembered, “there’s a schooner in the offing with her topsail shot with fire.” We had memorized Richard Hovey’s Sea Gypsy when he was in first grade:
The Sea Gypsy
by Richard Hovey
I am fevered with the sunset,
I am fretful with the bay,
For the wander-thirst is on me
And my soul is in Cathay.
There ‘s a schooner in the offing,
With her topsails shot with fire,
And my heart has gone aboard her
For the Islands of Desire.
I must forth again to-morrow!
With the sunset I must be
Hull down on the trail of rapture
In the wonder of the sea.
Are you sailing off on an adventure this summer?
For more Poetry Friday, sail on over to visit Linda at TeacherDance.
[quick ink study of a sailboat — Wonderland, Acadia NP, Aug. 2011]
What a beautiful poem — hadn’t seen it before. Acadia sounds wonderful. Hope you feed your wanderlust this summer!
Oh, Katya, I am with you on the wanderlust! And that poem is so PERFECT to capture the feeling of needing to be FREE and get the heck out of Dodge. A friend sent me Yeats’s “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” just yesterday, which is along the same lines…a bit of peace, a new something to look at tomorrow. Ahhhh……
Oh I love that poem! And I am with you wanting to get to the beach and just sit and watch. Need to plan that NOW.
So beautiful, Katya. One class here just returned from sailing on a 3 masted schooner, which I did a few years ago with my class. It was a marvelous trip, & this brought some of it back. I agree with you, sailboats are there to watch! Thank you!
What a perfect seafaring poem…and how marvelous that you and your son had committed it to memory so that you’d have just the right words to recite at the right moment!
It is days like today, warm and sunny, when I most miss the sand in my toes. There is something wonderful about sitting on the sand and watching everything go on around you. Loved the poem.
Yes, I’m feeling that wander-thirst myself. Just a couple more weeks of school! Thanks for sharing that poem – it’s new to me.
What a perfect way to welcome summer! Do let us know where you all end up going this year. I’m a little in awe that you and your son could spontaneously fire off those lovely lines together… very special.
What a beautiful poem. It grabbed me from its powerful first line. It’s definitely the time of year for travel.
I would love to live by the water. Lovely poem.
What a gorgeous poem! Gearbox is lucky to have that one in his head and heart.