A Ballad of Cape St. Vincent
Slippin’ easy, splashin’ up the sea,Dossin’ snug aneath the weather-railin’,Quiddin’ bonded Jacky out a-lee?English sea astern us and afore us,Reaching out three thousand miles ahead,God’s own stars a-risin’ solemn o’er us,And--yonder’s Cape St. Vincent and the Dead.
There they lie, Bill, man and mate together,Dreamin’ out the dog-watch down below,Anchored in the Port of Pleasant Weather,Waiting for the Bo’sun’s call to blow.Over them the tide goes lappin’, swayin’,Under them’s the wide bay’s muddy bed,And it’s pleasant dreams--to them--to hear us sayin’,Yonder’s Cape St. Vincent and the Dead.
Hear that P. and O. boat’s engines dronin’,Beating out of time and out of tune,Ripping past with every plate a-groanin’,Spitting smoke and cinders at the moon?Ports a-lit like little stars a-settin’,See ’em glintin’ yaller, green, and red,Loggin’ twenty knots, Bill,--but forgettin’,Yonder’s Cape St. Vincent and the Dead.
They’re ‘discharged’ now, Billy, ‘left the service,’Rough an’ bitter was the watch they stood,Drake an’ Blake, an’ Collingwood an’ Jervis,Nelson, Rodney, Hawke, an’ Howe an’ Hood.They’d a hard time, haulin’ an’ directin’,There’s the flag they left us, Billy--treadStraight an’ keep it flyin’--recollectin’,Yonder’s Cape St. Vincent and the Dead.
Words in this poem
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- anchored a.
- Held by an anchor; at anchor; held safely; as, an anchored bark; also, shaped like an anchor; forked; as, an anchored tongue.
- billy n.
- A club; esp., a policeman's club.
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Ballad of Cape St. Vincent is in the public domain. This text is taken from Salt-Water Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #52761; 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, A Ballad of Cape St. Vincent, in Salt-Water Ballads (1902), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #52761, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masefield-salt-water/a-ballad-of-cape-st-vincent.html, id L12670.
Form and metre
A Ballad of Cape St. Vincent is 31 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.5 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in trochaic pentameter.
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-ABCBC seaA · railin · leeA · usB · aheadC · usB · deadC
- 2 ABABCDCD togetherA · belowB · weatherA · blowB · swayinC · bedD · sayinC · deadD
- 3 ABABCDCD droninA · tuneB · groaninA · moonB · settinC · redD · forgettinC · deadD
- 4 ABABCDCD serviceA · stoodB · jervisA · hoodB · directinC · treadD · recollectinC · deadD
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Slippin’ easy, splashin’ up the sea, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Dossin’ snug aneath the weather-railin’, | 10 | ···˘/·/˘·· |
| Quiddin’ bonded Jacky out a-lee? | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| English sea astern us and afore us, | 10 | /˘·˘/··˘/· |
| Reaching out three thousand miles ahead, | 9 | /˘··/˘·˘/ |
| God’s own stars a-risin’ solemn o’er us, | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| And--yonder’s Cape St. Vincent and the Dead. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| There they lie, Bill, man and mate together, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Dreamin’ out the dog-watch down below, | 9 | ········· |
| Anchored in the Port of Pleasant Weather, | 10 | /˘····/˘/˘ |
| Waiting for the Bo’sun’s call to blow. | 9 | /˘······· |
| Over them the tide goes lappin’, swayin’, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| Under them’s the wide bay’s muddy bed, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And it’s pleasant dreams--to them--to hear us sayin’, | 12 | ··/˘······/˘ |
| Yonder’s Cape St. Vincent and the Dead. | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| Hear that P. and O. boat’s engines dronin’, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Beating out of time and out of tune, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Ripping past with every plate a-groanin’, | 10 | /˘··/˘···· |
| Spitting smoke and cinders at the moon? | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| Ports a-lit like little stars a-settin’, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| See ’em glintin’ yaller, green, and red, | 9 | ········· |
| Loggin’ twenty knots, Bill,--but forgettin’, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Yonder’s Cape St. Vincent and the Dead. | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| They’re ‘discharged’ now, Billy, ‘left the service,’ | 10 | ·˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Rough an’ bitter was the watch they stood, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Drake an’ Blake, an’ Collingwood an’ Jervis, | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| Nelson, Rodney, Hawke, an’ Howe an’ Hood. | 9 | /˘/˘····· |
| They’d a hard time, haulin’ an’ directin’, | 10 | ·········· |
| There’s the flag they left us, Billy--tread | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Straight an’ keep it flyin’--recollectin’, | 9 | ········· |
| Yonder’s Cape St. Vincent and the Dead. | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
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