Often, to amuse themselves, the
men of the crew
Catch those great birds of the
seas, the albatrosses,
Lazy companions of the voyage, who
follow
The ship that slips through bitter
gulfs.
Hardly have they put them on the
deck,
Than these kings of the skies,
awkward and ashamed,
Piteously let their great white
wings
Draggle like oars beside them.
This winged traveller, how weak he
becomes and slack!
He who of late was so beautiful,
how comical and ugly!
Someone teases his beak with a
branding iron,
Another mimics, limping, the
crippled flyer!
The Poet is like the prince of the
clouds,
Haunting the tempest and laughing
at the archer;
Exiled on earth amongst the
shouting people,
His giant's wings hinder him from
walking.
