The Greenland Fishery
In seventeen hundred and ninety-four,On March the twentieth day;We hoist our colours to the mast,And for Greenland bore away, brave boys!And for Greenland bore away.
We were twelve gallant men aboard,And to the North did steer:Old England left we in our wake--We sailors knew no fear, brave boys!We sailors knew no fear.
Our boatswain to the mast-head went,Wi’ a spy glass in his hand;He cries, ‘A whale! a whale doth blow,She blows at every span, brave boys!She blows at every span.’
Our Captain on the master deck(A very good man was he),‘Overhaul! overhaul! let the boat tackle fall,And launch your boat to sea, brave boys!And launch your boat to sea.’
Our boat being launch’d, and all hands in,The whale was full in view;Resolved was then each seaman boldTo steer where the whale-fish blew, brave boys!To steer where the whale-fish blew.
The whale was struck, and the line paid out,She gave a flash with her tail;The boat capsized, and we lost four men,And we never caught that whale, brave boys!And we never caught that whale.
Bad news we to the Captain brought,The loss of four men true.A sorrowful man was our Captain then,And the colours down he drew, brave boys!And the colours down he drew.
‘The losing of this whale,’ said he,‘Doth grieve my heart full sore;But the losing of four gallant menDoth hurt me ten times more, brave boys!Doth hurt me ten times more.
‘The winter star doth now appear,So, boys, the anchor weigh;’Tis time to leave this cold countrỳ,And for England bear away, brave boys!And for England bear away.
‘For Greenland is a barren place,A land where grows no green,But ice and snow, and the whale-fish blow,And the daylight’s seldom seen, brave boys!And the daylight’s seldom seen!’
Words in this poem
- seventeen a.
- One more than sixteen; ten and seven added; as, seventeen years. [OE. seventene, AS. seofontyne, i. e., seven- ten. Cf. Seventy.]
- aboard adv.
- On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car. [Pref. a- on, in + board.]
- boatswain n.
- An officer who has charge of the boats, sails, rigging, colors, anchors, cables, cordage, etc., of a ship, and who also summons the crew, and performs other duties. [Boat + swain.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- overhaul v. t.
- To haul or drag over; hence, to turn over for examination; to inspect; to examine thoroughly with a view to corrections or repairs.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Greenland Fishery is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #44593; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Greenland Fishery, in The Oxford Book of Ballads (before 1800), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44593, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/oxford-ballads/the-greenland-fishery.html, id L08517.
Form and metre
The Greenland Fishery is 50 lines in 10 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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--A four · dayA · mast · boys · awayA
- 2 -A--A aboard · steerA · wake · boys · fearA
- 4 -A--A deck · heA · fall · boys · seaA
- 5 -A--A in · viewA · bold · boys · blewA
- 6 -A--A out · tailA · men · boys · whaleA
- 7 -A--A brought · trueA · then · boys · drewA
- 8 -A--A he · soreA · men · boys · moreA
- 9 -A--A appear · weighA · countrỳ · boys · awayA
- 10 -A--A place · greenA · blow · boys · seenA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In seventeen hundred and ninety-four, | 10 | ·/˘//˘·/˘· |
| On March the twentieth day; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| We hoist our colours to the mast, | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| And for Greenland bore away, brave boys! | 9 | ··/˘·˘/·· |
| And for Greenland bore away. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| We were twelve gallant men aboard, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And to the North did steer: | 6 | ······ |
| Old England left we in our wake-- | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| We sailors knew no fear, brave boys! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We sailors knew no fear. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Our boatswain to the mast-head went, | 8 | //˘····· |
| Wi’ a spy glass in his hand; | 7 | ······· |
| He cries, ‘A whale! a whale doth blow, | 8 | ········ |
| She blows at every span, brave boys! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She blows at every span.’ | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Our Captain on the master deck | 8 | //˘··/˘· |
| (A very good man was he), | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| ‘Overhaul! overhaul! let the boat tackle fall, | 12 | /˘·/˘····/˘· |
| And launch your boat to sea, brave boys! | 8 | ········ |
| And launch your boat to sea.’ | 6 | ······ |
| Our boat being launch’d, and all hands in, | 8 | /·/····· |
| The whale was full in view; | 6 | ······ |
| Resolved was then each seaman bold | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| To steer where the whale-fish blew, brave boys! | 9 | ········· |
| To steer where the whale-fish blew. | 7 | ······· |
| The whale was struck, and the line paid out, | 9 | ········· |
| She gave a flash with her tail; | 7 | ······· |
| The boat capsized, and we lost four men, | 9 | ··/······ |
| And we never caught that whale, brave boys! | 8 | ··/····· |
| And we never caught that whale. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Bad news we to the Captain brought, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The loss of four men true. | 6 | ······ |
| A sorrowful man was our Captain then, | 9 | ·/˘··//˘· |
| And the colours down he drew, brave boys! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And the colours down he drew. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| ‘The losing of this whale,’ said he, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| ‘Doth grieve my heart full sore; | 6 | ······ |
| But the losing of four gallant men | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Doth hurt me ten times more, brave boys! | 8 | ········ |
| Doth hurt me ten times more. | 6 | ······ |
| ‘The winter star doth now appear, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| So, boys, the anchor weigh; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ’Tis time to leave this cold countrỳ, | 7 | ······· |
| And for England bear away, brave boys! | 9 | ··/˘·˘/·· |
| And for England bear away. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| ‘For Greenland is a barren place, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A land where grows no green, | 6 | ······ |
| But ice and snow, and the whale-fish blow, | 9 | ········· |
| And the daylight’s seldom seen, brave boys! | 9 | ··/·/˘··· |
| And the daylight’s seldom seen!’ | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
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