Sunday 20 October 2024

WHITBY HARBOUR BY MOONLIGHT... (My poem about Atkinson Grimshaw's 1867 painting...)

 Whitby Harbour By Moonlight…

(From Atkinson Grimshaw’s painting, 1867…)



Evening cloud scatters in the wake of a brilliant moon, 

The star turn of the chorus in a theatrical sky, 

Which pedals its weak turquoise into a reflection

On Whitby’s sedate but high Victorian tide.


Nets hang damp on rails, a lugger, maybe leaving soon,

Quivers, moored in the shadowy waters, rippling high;

And welcoming amber shopfront lights reflect their seduction

Upon Whitby’s waters, hinting of coal-fire warmth inside.


Curiously, I yearn to be there, inside a friendly saloon,

Drinking ale and smoking a pipe with ageing regulars spry,

Watching the moonlight spectacle, the evening attraction

With Whitby’s fisherfolk, bearing their hardships with pride…


Pete Ray

20th October 2024…  

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