Anchor Song
Heh! Walk her round. Heave, ah heave her short again!Over, snatch her over, there, and hold her on the pawl.Loose all sail, and brace your yards back and full --Ready jib to pay her off and heave short all!Well, ah fare you well; we can stay no more with you, my love --Down, set down your liquor and your girl from off your knee;For the wind has come to say:“You must take me while you may,If you'd go to Mother Carey(Walk her down to Mother Carey!),Oh, we're bound to Mother Carey where she feeds her chicks at sea!”
Heh! Walk her round. Break, ah break it out o' that!Break our starboard-bower out, apeak, awash, and clear.Port -- port she casts, with the harbour-mud beneath her foot,And that's the last o' bottom we shall see this year!Well, ah fare you well, for we've got to take her out again --Take her out in ballast, riding light and cargo-free.And it's time to clear and quitWhen the hawser grips the bitt,So we'll pay you with the foresheet and a promise from the sea!
Heh! Tally on. Aft and walk away with her!Handsome to the cathead, now; O tally on the fall!Stop, seize and fish, and easy on the davit-guy.Up, well up the fluke of her, and inboard haul!Well, ah fare you well, for the Channel wind's took hold of us,Choking down our voices as we snatch the gaskets free.And it's blowing up for night,And she's dropping Light on Light,And she's snorting under bonnets for a breath of open sea,
Wheel, full and by; but she'll smell her road alone to-night.Sick she is and harbour-sick -- O sick to clear the land!Roll down to Brest with the old Red Ensign over us --Carry on and thrash her out with all she'll stand!Well, ah fare you well, and it's Ushant slams the door on us,Whirling like a windmill through the dirty scud to lee:Till the last, last flicker goesFrom the tumbling water-rows,And we're off to Mother Carey(Walk her down to Mother Carey!),Oh, we're bound for Mother Carey where she feeds her chicks at sea!
Words in this poem
- apeak adv.
- In a vertical line. The anchor in apeak, when the cable has been sufficiently hove in to bring the ship over it, and the ship is them said to be hove apeak. [Spelt also apeek.] [Pref. a- + peak. Cf. F. à pic vertically.]
- awash a.
- Washed by the waves or tide; -- said of a rock or strip of shore, or (Naut.) of an anchor, etc., when flush with the surface of the water, so that the waves break over it. [Pref. a- + wash.]
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- 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,]
- bitt v. t.
- To put round the bitts; as, to bitt the cable, in order to fasten it or to slacken it gradually, which is called veering away. [See Bitts.]
- cathead n.
- A projecting piece of timber or iron near the bow of vessel, to which the anchor is hoisted and secured.
- inboard a.
- Inside the line of a vessel's bulwarks or hull; the opposite of outboard; as, an inboard cargo; haul the boom inboard.
- choking a.
- That chokes; producing the feeling of strangulation.
- windmill n.
- A mill operated by the power of the wind, usually by the action of the wind upon oblique vanes or sails which radiate from a horizontal shaft.
- scud v. i.
- To move swiftly; especially, to move as if driven forward by something. [Dan. skyde to shoot, shove, push, akin to skud shot, gunshot, a shoot, young bough, and to E. shoot. sq. root159. See Shoot.]
- flicker v. i.
- To flutter; to flap the wings without flying. [OE. flikeren, flekeren, to flutter, AS. flicerian, flicorian, cf. D. flikkeren to sparkle. Flacker.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anchor Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Verses 1889-1896, Project Gutenberg ebook #323; 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, Anchor Song, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/anchor-song.html, id L16821.
Form and metre
Anchor Song is 40 lines in 4 stanzas. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 1 -A-A-BCCDDB again · pawlA · full · allA · love · kneeB · sayC · mayC · careyD · careyD · seaB
- 2 -A-A-BCCB that · clearA · foot · yearA · again · freeB · quitC · bittC · seaB
- 3 -ABA-BCCB her · fallA · guyB · haulA · us · freeB · nightC · lightC · seaB
- 4 -ABABCDDEEC night · landA · usB · standA · usB · leeC · goesD · rowsD · careyE · careyE · seaC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heh! Walk her round. Heave, ah heave her short again! | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Over, snatch her over, there, and hold her on the pawl. | 11 | ··········· |
| Loose all sail, and brace your yards back and full -- | 10 | ·········· |
| Ready jib to pay her off and heave short all! | 11 | /˘········· |
| Well, ah fare you well; we can stay no more with you, my love -- | 14 | ·············· |
| Down, set down your liquor and your girl from off your knee; | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| For the wind has come to say: | 7 | ······· |
| “You must take me while you may, | 7 | ······· |
| If you'd go to Mother Carey | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| (Walk her down to Mother Carey!), | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Oh, we're bound to Mother Carey where she feeds her chicks at sea!” | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Heh! Walk her round. Break, ah break it out o' that! | 11 | ··········· |
| Break our starboard-bower out, apeak, awash, and clear. | 12 | ·//˘/·˘/˘/·· |
| Port -- port she casts, with the harbour-mud beneath her foot, | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| And that's the last o' bottom we shall see this year! | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Well, ah fare you well, for we've got to take her out again -- | 14 | ············˘/ |
| Take her out in ballast, riding light and cargo-free. | 13 | ····/˘/˘··/·· |
| And it's time to clear and quit | 7 | ······· |
| When the hawser grips the bitt, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So we'll pay you with the foresheet and a promise from the sea! | 16 | ···········/˘··· |
| Heh! Tally on. Aft and walk away with her! | 11 | ·/˘····˘/·· |
| Handsome to the cathead, now; O tally on the fall! | 13 | /˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| Stop, seize and fish, and easy on the davit-guy. | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| Up, well up the fluke of her, and inboard haul! | 11 | ········/·· |
| Well, ah fare you well, for the Channel wind's took hold of us, | 14 | ·······/˘····· |
| Choking down our voices as we snatch the gaskets free. | 13 | /˘·//˘····/˘· |
| And it's blowing up for night, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And she's dropping Light on Light, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And she's snorting under bonnets for a breath of open sea, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Wheel, full and by; but she'll smell her road alone to-night. | 13 | ·········˘/·· |
| Sick she is and harbour-sick -- O sick to clear the land! | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| Roll down to Brest with the old Red Ensign over us -- | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Carry on and thrash her out with all she'll stand! | 11 | /˘········· |
| Well, ah fare you well, and it's Ushant slams the door on us, | 14 | ·············· |
| Whirling like a windmill through the dirty scud to lee: | 13 | /˘··/···/˘··· |
| Till the last, last flicker goes | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From the tumbling water-rows, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| And we're off to Mother Carey | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| (Walk her down to Mother Carey!), | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Oh, we're bound for Mother Carey where she feeds her chicks at sea! | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.