The Ballad of the "Britain's Pride"
It was a skipper of LowestoftThat trawled the northern sea,In a smack of thrice ten tons and seven,And the Britain's Pride was she.And the waves were high to windward,And the waves were high to lee,And he said as he lost his trawl-net,"What is to be, will be."
His craft she reeled and staggered,But he headed her for the hithe,In a storm that threatened to mow her downAs grass is mown by the scythe;When suddenly through the cloud-riftThe moon came sailing soft,And he saw one mast of a sunken shipLike a dead arm held aloft.
And a voice came faint from the rigging--"Help! help!" it whispered and sighed--And a single form to the sole mast clung,In the roaring darkness wide.Oh the crew were but four hands all told,On board of the Britain's Pride,And ever "Hold on till daybreak!"Across the night they cried.
Slowly melted the darkness,Slowly rose the sun,And only the lad in the riggingWas left, out of thirty-one,To tell the tale of his captain,The English sailor true,That did his duty and met his deathAs English sailors do.
Peace to the gallant spirit,The greatly proved and tried,And to all who have fed the hungry seaThat is still unsatisfied;And honour and glory for ever,While rolls the unresting tide,To the skipper of little Lowestoft,And the crew of the Britain's Pride.
Words in this poem
- skipper n.
- One who, or that which, skips.
- 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]
- hithe n.
- A port or small haven; -- used in composition; as, Lambhithe, now Lambeth. Pennant. [AS. hHide to conceal.]
- mown p. p.
- Cut down by mowing, as grass; deprived of grass by mowing; as, a mown field.
- clung a.
- Wasted away; shrunken. [Prop. p. p. fr. OE. clingen to wither. See Cling, v. i.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ballad of the "Britain's Pride" is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of William Watson, Project Gutenberg ebook #13179; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Watson, The Ballad of the "Britain's Pride", in The Poems of William Watson (1892–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13179, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/watson-poems/the-ballad-of-the-britain-s-pride.html, id L11267.
Form and metre
The Ballad of the "Britain's Pride" is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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-A-A lowestoft · seaA · seven · sheA · windward · leeA · net · beA
- 2 -A-A-B-B staggered · hitheA · down · scytheA · rift · softB · ship · aloftB
- 3 ABAB-B-B riggingA · sighedB · clungA · wideB · told · prideB · daybreak · criedB
- 4 -A-AAB-B darkness · sunA · rigging · oneA · captainA · trueB · death · doB
- 5 -A-A-A-A spirit · triedA · sea · unsatisfiedA · ever · tideA · lowestoft · prideA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It was a skipper of Lowestoft | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| That trawled the northern sea, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In a smack of thrice ten tons and seven, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And the Britain's Pride was she. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the waves were high to windward, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And the waves were high to lee, | 7 | ······· |
| And he said as he lost his trawl-net, | 9 | ········· |
| "What is to be, will be." | 6 | ······ |
| His craft she reeled and staggered, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But he headed her for the hithe, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| In a storm that threatened to mow her down | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| As grass is mown by the scythe; | 7 | ······· |
| When suddenly through the cloud-rift | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The moon came sailing soft, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And he saw one mast of a sunken ship | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Like a dead arm held aloft. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And a voice came faint from the rigging-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| "Help! help!" it whispered and sighed-- | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And a single form to the sole mast clung, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| In the roaring darkness wide. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Oh the crew were but four hands all told, | 9 | ········· |
| On board of the Britain's Pride, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And ever "Hold on till daybreak!" | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| Across the night they cried. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Slowly melted the darkness, | 7 | /˘/˘·/˘ |
| Slowly rose the sun, | 5 | /˘··· |
| And only the lad in the rigging | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Was left, out of thirty-one, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To tell the tale of his captain, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The English sailor true, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That did his duty and met his death | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| As English sailors do. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Peace to the gallant spirit, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The greatly proved and tried, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And to all who have fed the hungry sea | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That is still unsatisfied; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| And honour and glory for ever, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| While rolls the unresting tide, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| To the skipper of little Lowestoft, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘··· |
| And the crew of the Britain's Pride. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.