The drunken boat by Arthur Rimbaud. Short summary

5 seconds

A poem about a ship that is left without a crew and, intoxicated with freedom, rides the world on the will of the waves and winds.

1 minute

The narrative is in the name of a ship that was left without a crew. The sailors had been killed by Indians, and the ship itself had dropped anchor and sailed free on the seas and oceans.

Intoxicated by freedom, the ship sailed on seas that would remain unknown and inaccessible to humans. She doesn’t care where she rushes. The waves have washed all traces of human presence from the deck of the ship — «blue stains of wine are washed from the deck».

The ship managed to see a lot of things on its voyage. He saw the immense depths of the ocean, the magnificent sunrise and azure sunset. In the north he learned «how the glaciers gleam in the pearly midday,» he saw the real northern lights.

For a time the ship found shelter in a quiet harbor, hiding «in that wooded bay.» Flocks of birds found shelter on her deck. But soon he was again «thrown into the sea by the wings of a wise thunderstorm.»

But at the end of the long journey, the lonely, storm-ravaged ship awaits only disappointment and a desire to reach at least some sort of wharf.