SHIPS IN HARBOUR

I have not known a quieter thing than ships,

Nor any dreamers steeped in dream as these,

For all that they have tracked disastrous seas,

And winds that left their sails in flagging strips;

Nothing disturbs them now, no stormy grips

That once had hurt their sides, no crash or swell,

Nor can the fretful harbour quite dispel

This quiet that they learned on lonely trips.

They have no part in all the noisy noons;

They are become as dreams of ships that go

Back to the secret waters that they know,

Each as she will to unforgot lagoons,

Where nothing moves except the ghostly spars

That mark the patient watches on the stars.