Alone, I cannot be — Barnacles

Alone, I cannot be－ ¹
For Hosts－do visit me－
Recordless Company－
Who baffle Key－

They have no Robes, nor Names－ ⁵
No Almanacs－nor Climes－
But general Homes
Like Gnomes－

Their Coming, may be known ⁹
By Couriers within－
Their going－is not－
For they've never gone－

(F.303/J.298)

[1] I:: the speaker is a whale.
[2] Hosts:: barnacles.
[4] key:: reef; the barnacles may permanently cover and fix cover the rocks on the coast, or the ship's bottom.

Barnacles often cover the whale in such masses, that his black skin disappears under a whitish mantle, and even seaweeds attach themselves to his vast jaws, floating like a beard, and reminding one of Birnam’s wandering forest. The Sea and Its Living Wonders (1861)

The two whales proved, as was thought, to be a cow and a yearling calf, perhaps a steer of the second year. They were putting their heads together as in love, or to rub off the crab-lice and barnacles that adhere by millions to the top and sides of their heads. The Whale and His Captors (1850)