The Stone Fleet. An Old Sailor’s Lament
I have a feeling for those ships,Each worn and ancient one,With great bluff bows, and broad in the beam;Ay, it was unkindly done.But so they serve the Obsolete--Even so, Stone Fleet!
You’ll say I’m doting; do but thinkI scudded round the Horn in one--The Tenedos, a gloriousGood old craft as ever run--Sunk (how all unmeet!)With the Old Stone Fleet.
An India ship of fame was she,Spices and shawls and fans she bore;A whaler when her wrinkles came--Turned off! till, spent and poor,Her bones were sold (escheat)!Ah! Stone Fleet.
Four were erst patrician keels(Names attest what families be),The Kensington, and Richmond too,Leonidas, and Lee:But now they have their seatWith the Old Stone Fleet.
To scuttle them--a pirate deed--Sack them, and dismast;They sunk so slow, they died so hard,But gurgling dropped at last.Their ghosts in gales repeatWoe’s us, Stone Fleet!
And all for naught. The waters pass--Currents will have their way;Nature is nobody’s ally; ’tis well;The harbor is bettered--will stay.A failure, and complete,Was your Old Stone Fleet.
Words in this poem
- bluff a.
- Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship. [Cf. OD. blaf flat, broad, blaffaert one with a broad face, also, a boaster; or G. verblüffen to confuse, LG. bluffen to frighten; to unknown origin.]
- unkindly a.
- Not kindly; unkind; ungracious.
- doting a.
- That dotes; silly; excessively fond.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- unmeet a.
- Not meet or fit; not proper; unbecoming; unsuitable; -- usually followed by for.
- whaler n.
- A vessel or person employed in the whale fishery.
- escheat v. i.
- To revert, or become forfeited, to the lord, the crown, or the State, as lands by the failure of persons entitled to hold the same, or by forfeiture.
- patrician a.
- Of or pertaining to the Roman patres (fathers) or senators, or patricians. [L. patricius, fr. patres fathers or senators, pl. of pater: cf. F. patricien. See Paternal.]
- keels n.
- Ninepins. See Kayles.
- attest v. t.
- To bear witness to; to certify; to affirm to be true or genuine; as, to attest the truth of a writing, a copy of record. [L. attestari; ad + testari to bear witness: cf. F. attester.]
- scuttle n.
- A broad, shallow basket. [AS. scutel a dish, platter; cf. Icel. skutill; both fr. L. scutella, dim. of scutra, scuta, a dish or platter; cf. scutum a shield. Cf. Skillet.]
- dismast v. t.
- To deprive of a mast of masts; to break and carry away the masts from; as, a storm dismasted the ship. [Pref. dis- + mast: cf. F. démâter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Stone Fleet. An Old Sailor’s Lament is in the public domain. This text is taken from Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War, Project Gutenberg ebook #12384; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Herman Melville, The Stone Fleet. An Old Sailor’s Lament, in Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12384, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/melville-battle-pieces/the-stone-fleet-an-old-sailor-s-lament.html, id L19092.
Form and metre
The Stone Fleet. An Old Sailor’s Lament is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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-ABB ships · oneA · beam · doneA · obsoleteB · fleetB
- 2 -A-ABB think · oneA · glorious · runA · unmeetB · fleetB
- 3 ----AA she · bore · came · poor · escheatA · fleetA
- 4 -A-ABB keels · beA · too · leeA · seatB · fleetB
- 5 -A-ABB deed · dismastA · hard · lastA · repeatB · fleetB
- 6 -A-ABB pass · wayA · well · stayA · completeB · fleetB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I have a feeling for those ships, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each worn and ancient one, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With great bluff bows, and broad in the beam; | 9 | ········· |
| Ay, it was unkindly done. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| But so they serve the Obsolete-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Even so, Stone Fleet! | 5 | /˘··· |
| You’ll say I’m doting; do but think | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I scudded round the Horn in one-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Tenedos, a glorious | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Good old craft as ever run-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sunk (how all unmeet!) | 5 | ···˘/ |
| With the Old Stone Fleet. | 5 | ····· |
| An India ship of fame was she, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Spices and shawls and fans she bore; | 8 | /˘······ |
| A whaler when her wrinkles came-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Turned off! till, spent and poor, | 7 | ·˘····· |
| Her bones were sold (escheat)! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Ah! Stone Fleet. | 3 | ··· |
| Four were erst patrician keels | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| (Names attest what families be), | 8 | ·˘/·/˘˘· |
| The Kensington, and Richmond too, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Leonidas, and Lee: | 5 | ····· |
| But now they have their seat | 6 | ······ |
| With the Old Stone Fleet. | 5 | ····· |
| To scuttle them--a pirate deed-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sack them, and dismast; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| They sunk so slow, they died so hard, | 8 | ········ |
| But gurgling dropped at last. | 8 | ·/˘˘·˘·· |
| Their ghosts in gales repeat | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Woe’s us, Stone Fleet! | 4 | ···· |
| And all for naught. The waters pass-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Currents will have their way; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Nature is nobody’s ally; ’tis well; | 10 | /˘·/··/˘·· |
| The harbor is bettered--will stay. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| A failure, and complete, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Was your Old Stone Fleet. | 5 | ····· |
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.