Posted as Missing
Under all her topsails she trembled like a stag,The wind made a ripple in her bonny red flag;They cheered her from the shore and they cheered her from the pier,And under all her topsails she trembled like a deer.
So she passed swaying, where the green seas run,Her wind-steadied topsails were stately in the sun;There was glitter on the water from her red port light,So she passed swaying, till she was out of sight.
Long and long ago it was, a weary time it is,The bones of her sailor-men are coral plants by this;Coral plants, and shark-weed, and a mermaid's comb,And if the fishers net them they never bring them home.
It's rough on sailors' women. They have to mangle hard,And stitch at dungarees till their finger-ends are scarred,Thinking of the sailor-men who sang among the crowd,Hoisting of her topsails when she sailed so proud.
Words in this poem
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Posted as Missing is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Story of a Round-House, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #40717; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Masefield, Posted as Missing, in The Story of a Round-House, and Other Poems (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #40717, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masefield-round-house/posted-as-missing.html, id L25012.
Form and metre
Posted as Missing is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
See other poems in alexandrines.
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 AABB stagA · flagA · pierB · deerB
- 2 AABB runA · sunA · lightB · sightB
- 3 --AA is · this · combA · homeA
- 4 AABB hardA · scarredA · crowdB · proudB
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. Read against alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Under all her topsails she trembled like a stag, | 13 | ·······/˘˘··· |
| The wind made a ripple in her bonny red flag; | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| They cheered her from the shore and they cheered her from the pier, | 13 | ············· |
| And under all her topsails she trembled like a deer. | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| So she passed swaying, where the green seas run, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Her wind-steadied topsails were stately in the sun; | 12 | ··/˘···/˘··· |
| There was glitter on the water from her red port light, | 13 | ··/˘··/˘····· |
| So she passed swaying, till she was out of sight. | 12 | ···˘/˘······ |
| Long and long ago it was, a weary time it is, | 13 | ···˘/···/˘··· |
| The bones of her sailor-men are coral plants by this; | 13 | ····/˘··/˘··· |
| Coral plants, and shark-weed, and a mermaid's comb, | 11 | /˘······/·· |
| And if the fishers net them they never bring them home. | 13 | ···/˘···/˘··· |
| It's rough on sailors' women. They have to mangle hard, | 13 | ···/˘/˘···/˘· |
| And stitch at dungarees till their finger-ends are scarred, | 13 | ·······/˘···˘ |
| Thinking of the sailor-men who sang among the crowd, | 13 | /˘··/˘······· |
| Hoisting of her topsails when she sailed so proud. | 12 | /˘·······˘·· |
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.