152 JOYCE KILMER
And through the leagues above her She looked, aghast, and said :
" What is this living ship that comes Where every ship is dead?"
The ghostly vessels trembled
From ruined stern to prow ; What was this thing of terror
That broke their vigil now ? Down through the startled ocean
A mighty vessel came, Not white, as all dead ships must be,
But red, like living flame !
The pale green waves about her
Were swiftly, strangely dyed. By the great scarlet stream that flowed
From out her wounded side. And all her decks were scarlet
And all her shattered crew. She sank among the white ghost ships
And stained them through and through.
The grim Titanic greeted her "And who art thou?" she said ;
" Why dost thou join our ghostly fleet Arrayed in living red ?
We are the ships of sorrow Who spend the weary night,
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