Hell’s Pavement
‘When I’m discharged in Liverpool ’n’ draws my bit o’ pay,I won’t come to sea no more.I’ll court a pretty little lass ’n’ have a weddin’ day,’N’ settle somewhere down ashore.I’ll never fare to sea again a-temptin’ Davy Jones,A-hearkening to the cruel sharks a-hungerin’ for my bones;I’ll run a blushin’ dairy-farm or go a-crackin’ stones,Or buy ’n’ keep a little liquor-store,’--So he said.
They towed her in to Liverpool, we made the hooker fast,And the copper-bound officials paid the crew,And Billy drew his money, but the money didn’t last,For he painted the alongshore blue,--It was rum for Poll, and rum for Nan, and gin for Jolly Jack.He shipped a week later in the clothes upon his back,He had to pinch a little straw, he had to beg a sackTo sleep on, when his watch was through,--So he did.
Words in this poem
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- billy n.
- A club; esp., a policeman's club.
- alongshore adv.
- Along the shore or coast.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hell’s Pavement 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, Hell’s Pavement, in Salt-Water Ballads (1902), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #52761, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masefield-salt-water/hell-s-pavement.html, id L12650.
Form and metre
Hell’s Pavement is 18 lines in 2 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.2 syllables. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 ABABCCCB- payA · moreB · dayA · ashoreB · jonesC · bonesC · stonesC · storeB · said
- 2 ABABCCCB- fastA · crewB · lastA · blueB · jackC · backC · sackC · throughB · did
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 iambic heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ‘When I’m discharged in Liverpool ’n’ draws my bit o’ pay, | 14 | ··˘/·/˘······· |
| I won’t come to sea no more. | 7 | ······· |
| I’ll court a pretty little lass ’n’ have a weddin’ day, | 14 | ···/˘/˘······· |
| ’N’ settle somewhere down ashore. | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| I’ll never fare to sea again a-temptin’ Davy Jones, | 14 | ·/˘···˘/···/˘· |
| A-hearkening to the cruel sharks a-hungerin’ for my bones; | 16 | ······/˘········ |
| I’ll run a blushin’ dairy-farm or go a-crackin’ stones, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| Or buy ’n’ keep a little liquor-store,’-- | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| So he said. | 3 | ··· |
| They towed her in to Liverpool, we made the hooker fast, | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| And the copper-bound officials paid the crew, | 11 | ··/˘·˘/˘··· |
| And Billy drew his money, but the money didn’t last, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| For he painted the alongshore blue,-- | 9 | ··/˘·˘/˘· |
| It was rum for Poll, and rum for Nan, and gin for Jolly Jack. | 15 | ············/˘· |
| He shipped a week later in the clothes upon his back, | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| He had to pinch a little straw, he had to beg a sack | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| To sleep on, when his watch was through,-- | 8 | ········ |
| So he did. | 3 | ··· |
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.