Bill Adams Poems on Night (10 Poems)

‘Frisco (Bill Adams Poems)

Long lines of ships at moorings used to lieBesides the wharves of ‘Frisco. All the dayThe chipping hammers rang upon their plates,While sailors, seated upon stages, chippedThe rust from hulls sea-crusted from the runAround the Horn from far-off ports to … Continue reading →

Silberhorn (Bill Adams Poems)

In Dennis O’Halloran’s bar-room, down by Newcastle pier,(Was ever ye down to Newcastle, lad?), I was sittin’ drinkin’ a beer,An’ treatin’ a girl called Topsy (ye know the kind she’d be),When somebody called from the doorway, “The Silberhorn’s going to … Continue reading →

Stowaway (Bill Adams Poems)

I crossed the gangway in the winter’s raining,Late in the night, when it was dreary dark;The only sounds the rain’s hiss, and the complainingOf mooring hawsers holding that lean barque. She sailed before the dawn, the evening found meA sea-sick … Continue reading →

All Hands On Deck (Bill Adams Poems)

Rouse out, you sleepers! Come, now, rise and shine!How would you like to hear that cry again?You rolled into your bunk at eight, and now it’s nine!You hear the wind, the lashing of the rain;You thought they’d let you sleep … Continue reading →

Billy Peg-leg’s Fiddle (Bill Adams Poems)

I’ve a pal called Billy Peg-leg, with one leg a wood leg,And Billy’ he’s a ship’s cook and lives upon the sea;And hanging by his griddleOld Billy keeps a fiddleFor fiddling in the dog-watchWhen the moon is on the sea. … Continue reading →

Home Round The Horn (Bill Adams Poems)

It’s blowing up squally, it’s piping like hell,And the packet she rolls till she tinkles her bell;Oh, I hope it may blow for a week at the least;She’s a Liverpool packet and bound to the East. Her foresail is reefed, … Continue reading →

Packet Rat (Bill Adams Poems)

‘Ow would you like to be a packet rat,Wiv no place anyw’ere to ‘ang your ‘at?Wiz two bare feet most bleedin’ froze an’ wet,Aboard a clipper wiv her tops’ls set? ‘Ow would you like to sail the greenin’ seaWiv a … Continue reading →

Sailmaker (Bill Adams Poems)

Old man Stitch-away, old man Sails,With his long grey beard, he’s hard as nails;His teeth are yellow, and his eyes are grey,And he’s seaming and he’s roping all the livelong day. Stitch away, stitch away, sew them strongFor the lofty … Continue reading →

Man In The Sea (Bill Adams Poems)

If ever you’ve heard it ringing, wild from the mast and clear,If you’ve seen the watches running, their faces blanched with fear,If you’ve heard the splash in the water, and the rush as the boat swings free,Then you know the … Continue reading →

Ai-Lee-Oh (Bill Adams Poems)

I see a ship glide through a dockWith lovely white wings,And women watch her from the lock,A sailor, laughing, sings,Ai-lee-yoh, Haul-away, yoh! I see the houses slipping by,Women’s wet faces;I hear a night wind piping high,Sailors at the braces —Hi-lee-yoh, … Continue reading →