A Poem by James Joyce - All Day I Hear the Noise of Waters

[wcc-curtis]

All day I hear the noise of waters
Making moan,
Sad as the sea-bird is when, going
Forth alone,
He hears the winds cry to the water's
Monotone.

The grey winds, the cold winds are blowing
Where I go.
I hear the noise of many waters
Far below.
All day, all night, I hear them flowing
To and fro.

[desiresjab]

For decades this has been one of my favorite little poems. Chamber Music is one of my favorite books of poetry. About four poems in there pass any test of poetry. Who would not trade precious body parts to write something as powerful as I Hear An Army, the major poem of the book? I still have it memorized after years.