Sayings from the Sea

Since the days of Jason and the Argonauts adventurers have been returning from the sea, or even from up the river, with much to talk about. With our first post from Joseph Conrad, quite likely the greatest ever writer of English as a second language, we barely dipped our toe into the roaring surf of seagoing literature. He has much more yet to offer, not to mention the likes of Herman Melville, Mark Twain, or maybe even the occasional salty saying from The Bard of Avon or maybe a wind-blown lyric or two from Canadian super band Great Big Sea. Browse away here as we continue to add ports of call…

Click on an image to enjoy the saying inspired by the sea…

#1, Joseph Conrad from An Outcast of the Islands
#2 from woman of our acquaintance
#3, William Shakespeare from The Winter’s Tale
#4, David Wilcox from Let the Wave Say
#5, T.S. Eliot from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
#6, Patrick Rothfuss from The Name of the Wind
#7, Umair Haque from A Book of Nights
#8 Shel Silverstein from The Mermaid
#9 William Shakespeare from Coriolanus
#10 Sir Terry Pratchett from A Hat Full of Sky
#11 – Epictetus
#12 Walt Whitman
#13 Patrick Rothfus from The Slow Regard of Silent Things
#14 Benjamin Franklin (attributed)
#15 Anonymous
#16 William Shakespeare from Much Ado About Nothing

Click here to submit a favorite line of yours from seafaring literature!