She rode at anchor in the bay,
And looked a goodly vessel
To sway upon the water’s breast
Or close in port to nestle.
She sailed out on the ocean wide;
Then did her captain shudder,
For, drifting here and drifting there,
He saw she had no rudder.
And soon with keen dismay he found
That ballast, too, was wanting.
Then came the thought, “Whose was the fault?” —
A fearful thought, and haunting!
For this fair ship with ballast light
That caused the captain’s shudder
Was his own child, his only one—
A ship without a rudder!
From: http://www.unz.org/Pub/Munseys-1916may-00674
Date: 1916
By: Addie Richman Altman (1850-1929)
From Troubles of The World 