Icon by Carl Holderness (The Noun Project)
Poem Activity
Print poem
Share
Cargoes
Poem Activity
Have fun with the poem by trying this...
In this poem the speaker imagines different things that can be carried on a cargo ship - some of them exotic, some not. Don’t worry about what all the words mean as you read the poem out loud – enjoy their sounds and think about the impressions they create. How is the final verse different? Find out about things that are carried on container ships today across oceans - can you write an extra verse for this poem to paint a picture of these more modern cargoes for a reader?
Record poem
Play
Stop
Record
Download
Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.
Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.
Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rail, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.
Founded by Andrew Motion and Julie Blake in 2012, developed by The Poetry Archive with The Full English, and funded by the Department for Education, Poetry by Heart is a national poetry recitation competition open to all pupils and students in England aged between 14 and 18. The Poetry By Heart website is a shared asset of The Poetry Archive and The Full English. It is maintained and developed by The Full English as a resource for a national poetry recitation competition and for teaching and learning about poetry.