There on the quay sobbed Bones, A.B.,
And he took me by the hand.
Says he to me, “I’ve quit the sea
An’ I’m huntin’ a berth on land.
‘Er doom ‘as come; an’ the days o’ rum,
Salt-‘orse an’ tar is over;
For these is the days of the popinjays
An’ the end of the deep-sea rover —
Oh,
Them tough ole, rough ole, rollicking lads
The shell-back, deep-sea rover.
“They’ve finished with me,” says Bones, A.B.,
“For they’ve finished with seamanship.
What they’re shippin’ of late is a milliner’s mate
With a housemaid’s mop on the ‘ip.
But ask ‘im the rig of a barque or a brig,
Or the toons of the chanteys sung
By a buck he-male in the days of sail
When me an’ me mates was young —
Oh,
Them mad ole, bad ole, rollicking days
When mates an’ the world was young.
“Before ‘e was born I’d rounded the Horn
Ten times in ships o’ sail,
Close-reefed an’ fast in the bellerin’ blast
Of the mother-in-law of a gale.
Bare-decked I been, an’ wrecked I been,
Mate-hazed, marooned, shanghai-ed.
But shiver me gob, I knoo me job
In the days when the seas was wide —
Oh,
Them reckless, feckless, rollicking days
When faith and the seas was wide.
“So I’m leavin’ the sea,” says Bones, A.B.,
“For the sea don’t need me now.
An’ I’m shapin’ a course to valet a ‘orse
Or coddle a milkin’ cow.
All that they asks of shipboard tasks
Is a dood of a doll’s-eye weaver;
An’ I’m missin’ ’em bad; them mates I ‘ad
So lovin’ the sea they leave ‘er —
Oh,
Them tearin’, swearin’, devil-may-carin’,
Lovable lads wot leave ‘er.”
(C J Dennis)
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Based on Topics: World Poems, Youth Poems, Cows PoemsBased on Keywords: knoo, huntin, rollicking, dood, feckless, leavin, housemaid, missin, lovable, milliner, swearin