Maggie's Farm

Fitz Huge Lane who had his name changed at 28 from Nathaniel Rogers Lane to Fitz Hugh Lane ( a reason for which no one can discern) was a master at subtle sea paintings.

Lane painted a series of canvases depicting Brace’s Rock in Gloucester in 1863 and 1864, during the last years of his life. He was ailing; the Civil War was raging; a fire swept through Gloucester.The work on view here, in which a broken-down old boat has run aground, might reflect his state of mind; they are sweetly mournful in a delicate afternoon light.

Your comment beckons this:

Sea-Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like
a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

John Masefield

I am going back to the shore again, to the place where the adventure began,

And the roar of the crowd is muted out;
by the great rockets red glare,

Back to where our reach exceeded our grasp;
but time and chance defeated that, and we succeeded at last,

To the Cape, the Canaveral of my youth where on March 12 I'll see a NASA shot, and

A mighty plume will light the sky and brighten the dark of night,

And those that are there will see the wonder,
of brave Americans, heaven bound again,

As once again we reach the stars when our shuttle again ascends.

Habu

Night launch 3/12 @02:29.

Dang Buddy

You summed Masefield up right good.

"the life that, seemingly so free of dreary commitment, actually requires a critical hidden one that never appears until you're suddenly 40 years old and washing dishes in a greasy spoon cafe along the side of the interstate, with all your life's achievements rolled up in the sleeve of your tee shirt in the form of a pack of Marlboros."

To me, that is great prose....nice job my friend.

Heresy on high .. mixing the Bard with another ..Masefield

Be all my sins remember'd.
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Masefields line,

"And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over."

For some reason it deeply reaches me. Why I do not know. The emotional response ,consummately visceral.