Frankie's Trade
Old Horn to All Atlantic said:(A-hay O! To me O!')'Now where did Frankie learn his trade?For he ran me down with a three-reef mains'le.'(All round the Horn!)
Atlantic answered:--'Not from me!You'd better ask the cold North Sea,For he ran me down under all plain canvas.'(All round the Horn!)
The North Sea answered:--'He's my man,For he came to me when he began--Frankie Drake in an open coaster.(All round the Sands!)
'I caught him young and I used him sore,So you never shall startle Frankie more,Without capsizing Earth and her waters.(All round the Sands!)
'I did not favour him at all.I made him pull and I made him haul--And stand his trick with the common sailors.(All round the Sands!)
'I froze him stiff and I fogged him blind.And kicked him home with his road to findBy what he could see in a three-day snow-storm(All round the Sands!)
'I learned him his trade o' winter nights,'Twixt Mardyk Fort and Dunkirk lightsOn a five-knot tide with the forts a-firing.(All round the Sands!)
'Before his beard began to shoot,I showed him the length of the Spaniard's foot--And I reckon he clapped the boot on it later.(All round the Sands!)
'If there's a risk which you can make.That's worse than he was used to takeNigh every week in the way of his business;(All round the Sands!)
'If there's a trick that you can try,Which he hasn't met in time gone by,Not once or twice, but ten times over;(All round the Sands!)
'If you can teach him aught that's new,(A-hay O! To me O!)I'll give you Bruges and Niewport too,And the ten tall churches that stand between 'em.'Storm along my gallant Captains!(All round the Horn!)
Words in this poem
- drake n.
- The male of the duck kind. [Akin to LG. drake, OHG. antrache, anetrecho, G. enterich, Icel. andriki, Dan. andrik, OSw. andrak, andrage, masc., and fr. AS. ened, fem., duck; akin to D. eend]
- coaster n.
- A vessel employed in sailing along a coast, or engaged in the coasting trade.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Frankie's Trade is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, Frankie's Trade, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/frankie-s-trade.html, id L20426.
Form and metre
Frankie's Trade is 47 lines in 11 stanzas.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 AA-- meA · seaA · canvas · horn
- 3 AA-- manA · beganA · coaster · sands
- 4 AA-- soreA · moreA · waters · sands
- 5 AA-- allA · haulA · sailors · sands
- 6 AA-- blindA · findA · storm · sands
- 7 AA-- nightsA · lightsA · firing · sands
- 9 AA-- makeA · takeA · business · sands
- 10 AA-- tryA · byA · over · sands
- 11 A-A--- newA · o · tooA · em · captains · horn
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Old Horn to All Atlantic said: | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| (A-hay O! To me O!') | 6 | ······ |
| 'Now where did Frankie learn his trade? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For he ran me down with a three-reef mains'le.' | 11 | ··········· |
| (All round the Horn!) | 4 | ···· |
| Atlantic answered:--'Not from me! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| You'd better ask the cold North Sea, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For he ran me down under all plain canvas.' | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| (All round the Horn!) | 4 | ···· |
| The North Sea answered:--'He's my man, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For he came to me when he began-- | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Frankie Drake in an open coaster. | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| (All round the Sands!) | 4 | ···· |
| 'I caught him young and I used him sore, | 9 | ········· |
| So you never shall startle Frankie more, | 9 | ··/·/˘/˘· |
| Without capsizing Earth and her waters. | 10 | ··/·˘···/˘ |
| (All round the Sands!) | 4 | ···· |
| 'I did not favour him at all. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I made him pull and I made him haul-- | 9 | ········· |
| And stand his trick with the common sailors. | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| (All round the Sands!) | 4 | ···· |
| 'I froze him stiff and I fogged him blind. | 9 | ········· |
| And kicked him home with his road to find | 9 | ········· |
| By what he could see in a three-day snow-storm | 11 | ··········· |
| (All round the Sands!) | 4 | ···· |
| 'I learned him his trade o' winter nights, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| 'Twixt Mardyk Fort and Dunkirk lights | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On a five-knot tide with the forts a-firing. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| (All round the Sands!) | 4 | ···· |
| 'Before his beard began to shoot, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| I showed him the length of the Spaniard's foot-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And I reckon he clapped the boot on it later. | 12 | ··/˘······/˘ |
| (All round the Sands!) | 4 | ···· |
| 'If there's a risk which you can make. | 8 | ········ |
| That's worse than he was used to take | 8 | ········ |
| Nigh every week in the way of his business; | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| (All round the Sands!) | 4 | ···· |
| 'If there's a trick that you can try, | 8 | ········ |
| Which he hasn't met in time gone by, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Not once or twice, but ten times over; | 8 | ········ |
| (All round the Sands!) | 4 | ···· |
| 'If you can teach him aught that's new, | 8 | ········ |
| (A-hay O! To me O!) | 6 | ······ |
| I'll give you Bruges and Niewport too, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And the ten tall churches that stand between 'em.' | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Storm along my gallant Captains! | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| (All round the Horn!) | 4 | ···· |
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