Poem: “The Maldive Shark” by Herman Melville

Sea Pieces

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American Literature – American Poetry – Herman Melville – Poems by Herman Melville – Sea Pieces
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The Maldive Shark

About the Shark, phlegmatical one,
Pale sot of the Maldive sea,
The sleek little pilot-fish, azure and slim,
How alert in attendance be.
From his saw-pit of mouth, from his charnel of maw
They have nothing of harm to dread,
But liquidly glide on his ghastly flank
Or before his Gorgonian head:
Or lurk in the port of serrated teeth
In white triple tiers of glittering gates,
And there find a haven when peril’s abroad,
An asylum in jaws of the Fates!
They are friends; and friendly they guide him to prey,
Yet never partake of the treat—
Eyes and brains to the dotard lethargic and dull,
Pale ravener of horrible meat.

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American Literature – American Poetry – Herman Melville – Poems by Herman Melville – Sea Pieces

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Sea Pieces

The Maldive Shark

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