Bertram Andrews
A vessel sails the midnight air
Merrily, merrily,
With merchandise of treasures rare
In purple majesty.
Bright dreams are all its costly freight
And to the port of souls it glides
To charm, where care was, and make glad.
Its choicest wares make strong the sad.
I stormy souls serene it rides
To give respite where sorrow rode.
Ah! Shining argosy!
That ship casts anchor oft, where I,
My soul in stark dismay
From days dark torment, restless lie:
And lulls that torment’s sway.
From foreign sea and distant land
Float dreams, surpassing Ophir’s waves,
The day’s chief beauties and delight,
The mystic wonders of the night,
The chiefest wealth that vessel bears,
More rich than gems of Samarkand
Or pearls from the Cathay.
Ash Rifle Range
5/9/16
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Analysis (AI Assisted)
This poem is about dreams as a kind of refuge. The image of a ship sailing through the night, loaded with treasures, turns dreams into something tangible—something that can arrive and bring comfort. The poem suggests that no matter how hard life gets, dreams have the power to soothe and restore.
The first stanza introduces the ship, which sails the “midnight air” with “merchandise of treasures rare.” The language makes it feel almost magical, like something out of a fairy tale. But instead of carrying gold or jewels, its cargo is “bright dreams.” It moves through the darkness to bring relief to those who are weighed down by sorrow. The poem describes this process almost as a transaction—the ship comes “to charm, where care was,” to replace sadness with something joyful. The speaker describes how it “rides” over stormy souls, calming them the way a ship might glide over rough waters.
The second stanza makes things more personal. The speaker describes their own struggles, saying their “soul in stark dismay” finds relief when this dream-ship arrives. Night is no longer just an absence of light—it becomes a source of peace, full of “mystic wonders.” The poem compares the treasures of dreams to famous sources of wealth—Ophir, Samarkand, Cathay—suggesting that what the ship brings is more valuable than any material riches.
The poem presents dreams as something beyond human control. The ship “casts anchor oft,” meaning it does not always appear on command. But when it does, it offers something priceless. There’s a contrast between the difficulty of daytime, full of “torment,” and the relief that comes at night, carried in by the dream-ship.
The setting of the poem, written at Ash Rifle Range in 1916, adds another layer. If the poet was a soldier, then the dreams take on even greater meaning—as an escape from the brutal realities of war. The poem never mentions war directly, but the need for respite, for something beautiful to counteract suffering, is clear. It’s a simple idea, but one that resonates: in the middle of hardship, dreams can be a kind of salvation.