A Crimp. A Drunken Sailor
Is there anything as I can do ashore for youWhen you’ve dropped down the tide?--
You can take ’n’ tell Nan I’m goin’ about the world agen’N’ that the world’s wide.’N’ tell her that there ain’t no postal serviceNot down on the blue sea.’N’ tell her that she’d best not keep her fires alightNor set up late for me.’N’ tell her I’ll have forgotten all about herAfore we cross the Line.’N’ tell her that the dollars of any other sailor-manIs as good red gold as mine.
Is there anything as I can do aboard for youAfore the tow-rope’s taut?
I’m new to this packet and all the ways of her,’N’ I don’t know of aught;But I knows as I’m goin’ down to the seas agen’N’ the seas are salt ’n’ drear;But I knows as all the doin’ as you’re man enough forWon’t make them lager-beer.
Is there anythin’ you’d fancy for your breakfastin’When you’re home across Mersey Bar?--
I wants a red herrin’ n’ a prairie oyster’N’ a bucket of Three Star,’N’ a gell with redder lips than Polly has got,’N’ prettier ways than Nan----
Well, so-long, Billy, ’n’ a spankin’ heavy pay-day to you!
So-long, my fancy man!
Words in this poem
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- aboard adv.
- On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car. [Pref. a- on, in + board.]
- packet n.
- A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel; as, a packet of letters. [F. paquet, dim. fr. LL. paccus, from the same source as E. pack. See Pack.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- polly n.
- A woman's name; also, a popular name for a parrot.
- billy n.
- A club; esp., a policeman's club.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Crimp. A Drunken Sailor 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 Crimp. A Drunken Sailor, in Salt-Water Ballads (1902), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #52761, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masefield-salt-water/a-crimp-a-drunken-sailor.html, id L12655.
Form and metre
A Crimp. A Drunken Sailor is 28 lines in 8 stanzas. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 you · tideA
- 2 -A-B-B-C-C agen · wideA · service · seaB · alight · meB · her · lineC · man · mineC
- 3 -D you · tautD
- 4 -D-E-E her · aughtD · agen · drearE · for · beerE
- 5 -F breakfastin · barF
- 6 -F-G oyster · starF · got · nanG
- 8 G manG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Is there anything as I can do ashore for you | 13 | ··/˘·····˘/·· |
| When you’ve dropped down the tide?-- | 6 | ······ |
| You can take ’n’ tell Nan I’m goin’ about the world agen | 15 | ·······/˘····˘/ |
| ’N’ that the world’s wide. | 5 | ····· |
| ’N’ tell her that there ain’t no postal service | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Not down on the blue sea. | 6 | ······ |
| ’N’ tell her that she’d best not keep her fires alight | 13 | ·········/˘˘/ |
| Nor set up late for me. | 6 | ······ |
| ’N’ tell her I’ll have forgotten all about her | 12 | ·····˘/˘···· |
| Afore we cross the Line. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| ’N’ tell her that the dollars of any other sailor-man | 15 | ·····/˘·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Is as good red gold as mine. | 7 | ······· |
| Is there anything as I can do aboard for you | 13 | ··/˘·····˘/·· |
| Afore the tow-rope’s taut? | 6 | ˘/···· |
| I’m new to this packet and all the ways of her, | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| ’N’ I don’t know of aught; | 6 | ······ |
| But I knows as I’m goin’ down to the seas agen | 13 | ·····/˘····˘/ |
| ’N’ the seas are salt ’n’ drear; | 7 | ······· |
| But I knows as all the doin’ as you’re man enough for | 14 | ······/˘···˘/· |
| Won’t make them lager-beer. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is there anythin’ you’d fancy for your breakfastin’ | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| When you’re home across Mersey Bar?-- | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| I wants a red herrin’ n’ a prairie oyster | 12 | ····/˘··/˘/˘ |
| ’N’ a bucket of Three Star, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| ’N’ a gell with redder lips than Polly has got, | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| ’N’ prettier ways than Nan---- | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Well, so-long, Billy, ’n’ a spankin’ heavy pay-day to you! | 15 | ···/˘····/˘···· |
| So-long, my fancy man! | 6 | ···/˘· |
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