quote · Legacy record
The slack sail shifts from side to side, / The boat, untrimm'd, admits the tide, / Borne down, adrift, at random tost, / The oar breaks short, the rudder's lost.
The slack sail shifts from side to side, / The boat, untrimm'd, admits the tide, / Borne down, adrift, at random tost, / The oar breaks short, the rudder's lost.
Approximate author period: c. 1710 AD · early modern
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- John Gay
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1710 AD · early modern
author lifetime midpoint (1688–1732)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Dictionary of Quotations (1893) (1893 AD)
Printed citation: Gay. · page_453
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.