Oh, the white Sea-gull, the wild Sea-gull,
   A joyful bird is he,
As he lies like a cradled thing at rest
   In the arms of a sunny sea !
The little waves rock to and fro,
   And the white Gull lies asleep,
As the fisher's bark, with breeze and tide,
   Goes merrily over the deep.
The ship, with her fair sails set, goes by,
   And her people stand to note
How the Sea-gull sits on the rocking waves,
   As if in an anchored boat.

The sea is fresh, the sea is fair,
   And the sky calm overhead,
And the Sea-gull lies on the deep, deep sea,
   Like a king in his royal bed !
Oh, the white Sea-gull, the bold Sea-gull,
    A joyful bird is he,
Throned like a king, in calm repose
   On the breast of the heaving sea !

The waves leap up, the wild wind blows,
     And the Gulls together crowd,
And wheel about, and madly scream
    To the deep sea roaring loud.
And let the sea roar ever so loud,
    And the wind pipe ever so high,
With a wilder joy the bold Sea-gull
    Sends forth a wilder cry.

For the Sea-gull, he is a daring bird,
  And he loves with the storm to sail;
To ride in the strength of the billowy sea,
  And to breast the driving gale !
The little boat, she is tossed about,
  Like a sea-****, to an fro;
The tall ship reels like a drunken man,
  As the gusty tempests blow.

But the Sea-gull laughs at the fear of man,
  And sails in a wild delight
On the torn-up breast of the night-black sea,
  Like a foam cloud, calm and white.
The waves may rage and the winds may roar,
  But he fears not wreck nor need;
For he rides the sea, in its stormy strength,
  As a strong man rides his steed.

Oh, the white Sea-gull, the bold Sea-gull !
  He makes on the shore his nest,
And he tries what the inland fields may be;
  But he loveth the sea the best !
And away from land a thousand leagues,
  He goes 'mid surging foam;
What matter to him is land or shore,
  For the sea is his truest home !

*Mary Howitt

Poseidon reared his unkempt head
Above the waves today
An ocean monster dripped in dread
Chest to chest with the bay

“Today, or any day at all!”
The shore-side heard his plea
Salt shucked shoulders tall as islands small
“No being shall ever challenge me!”

One gull omitted a thoughtful word
Which sounded much like “Rak!”
One offended brow raised at what he heard
Poseidon countered with a slap

Five foul fingers touched the sky
And fell upon the sea
A wave as great as mountains high
Sighed upon the beaches knee

With a drunken beat of lazy wing
The gull escaped his perch
Finding another on which to cling
Without a moment’s search

Fists clenched around the shallows
Poseidon was enraged
With urchin riddled lips pursed he bellowed
And blew the beach away

Up went beachgoers along the coast
Into the sandy storm
Sun chapped mums beginning to roast
Castling children, One man named Norm

Gull glided softly on the wind
Providing a flap or two
And to the defeated Poseidon's chagrin
Let out a cantankerous coo

In one last fit of aqueous rage
Posiedon surfaced to land
And in a briny blind rampage
Grabbed the gull with swole hands

Gull in hand Poseidon yelled
“What dare you mean sly poultry?
My kingdom is unparalleled,
All pilgrims seek my choultry”

But the oily gull slipped through his grip
And flew quite far away
And as he watched it dive and dip
He came to see the bay

Debris was strewn across the sand
His subjects were in ruin
Disaster spread across the land
And it was all his doin’

A desperate shade turned Poseidon
As he returned to the great deep
“What use am I as a mighty king
If protection I cannot keep?”

That is how a seagull won
Against The God of Sea
Who forgot about his job, just one,
To keep the big blue world carefree