The Beach

Louder than gulls the little children scream Whom fathers haul into the jovial foam;

But others fearlessly rush in, breast high,

Laughing the salty water from their mouthes— Heroes of the nursery.

The horny boatman, who has seen whales And flying fishes, who has sailed as far As Demerara and the Ivory Coast,

Will warn them, when they crowd to hear his tales,

That every ocean smells of tar.