WHETHER my bark went down at sea,
Whether she met with gales,
Whether to isles enchanted
She bent her docile sails;
By what mystic mooring
She is held to-day,—
This is the errand of the eye
Out upon the bay.
Whether my bark went down at sea
Summary
"Whether my bark went down at sea" is a short poem in which a speaker watches the bay for a vessel that may be lost. Was it wrecked by gales, or carried to enchanted isles on docile sails? The speaker cannot know what mystic mooring holds the ship today. The poem turns on a single, aching image: the eye sent out upon the water, keeping its vigil and holding uncertainty without demanding an answer.
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