The Shark
E. J. Pratt
He seemed to know the harbour, So leisurely he swam; His fin, Like a piece of sheet-iron, Three-cornered, And with knife-edge, Stirred not a bubble As it moved With its base-line on the water. His body was tubular And tapered And smoke-blue, And as he passed the wharf He turned, And snapped at a flat-fish That was dead and floating. And I saw the flash of a white throat, And a double row of white teeth, And eyes of metallic grey, Hard and narrow and slit. Then out of the harbour, With that three-cornered fin Shearing without a bubble the water Lithely, Leisurely, He swam— That strange fish, Tubular, tapered, smoke-blue, Part vulture, part wolf, Part neither—for his blood was cold.
Next 10 Poems
- E. J. Pratt : The Supreme Test
- E. J. Pratt : The Toll Of The Bells
- E. J. Pratt : The Witches' Brew
- Matthew Prior : A Better Answer
- Matthew Prior : A Letter To Lady Margaret Cavendish Holles-harley, When A Child
- Matthew Prior : A Reasonable Affliction
- Matthew Prior : A Simile
- Matthew Prior : A True Maid
- Matthew Prior : An Epitaph
- Matthew Prior : An Ode
Previous 10 Poems
- E. J. Pratt : The Sea-cat
- E. J. Pratt : The Return Of The Cat
- E. J. Pratt : The Midnight Revels As Observed By The Shades
- E. J. Pratt : The Ice-floes
- E. J. Pratt : The Ground Swell
- E. J. Pratt : The Fog
- E. J. Pratt : The Flight Of The Immortals
- E. J. Pratt : The Drowning
- E. J. Pratt : The Charge Of The Swordfish
- E. J. Pratt : The Big Fellow
