The Borneo Fogcutter

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    The Borneo Fogcutter

     

    On the voyage to old Mandalay,
    The fog was so thick, everyone would avow,
    The captain could see neither stern nor the prow.
    It probably wouldn't have helped anyhow,
    He was guzzling his grog all the way.
    With but shoals to the starboard and rocks to the port,
    While the Fogcutter ploughed through the foam,
    And Captain McGinty three sheets to the wind,
    The crew all repenting the sins they had sinned.
    But still he steered on, unabashed, not chagrined,
    Through the dusk and the gathering gloam.
    There are angels, they say, to keep children from harm,
    And hear prisoner's most tormented pleas.
    While foam from the breakers that crashed on the rocks,
    Encrusted the lanyards and tackle and blocks,
    The Angel of Drunks took McGinty in stock,
    And steered him to wide open seas!
    As the Borneo Fogcutter sliced through the soup
    On the voyage to old Mandalay,
    The fog was so thick, everyone would avow,
    The captain could see neither stern nor the prow.
    It probably wouldn't have helped anyhow,
    He was guzzling his grog all the way.

    With but shoals to the starboard and rocks to the port,
    While the Fogcutter ploughed through the foam,
    And Captain McGinty three sheets to the wind,
    The crew all repenting the sins they had sinned.
    But still he steered on, unabashed, not chagrined,
    Through the dusk and the gathering gloam.

    There are angels, they say, to keep children from harm,
    And hear prisoner's most tormented pleas.
    While foam from the breakers that crashed on the rocks,
    Encrusted the lanyards and tackle and blocks,
    The Angel of Drunks took McGinty in stock,
    And steered him to wide open seas!

     

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    dahlusion commented on The Borneo Fogcutter

    03-19-2013

    The details within this piece are mesmerizing, impressive. A true tale of the sea poem that put me on deck. Bravo!
    Reply to Comment

    gmcookie

    03/19/2013

    Thanks Dah. Its a difficult form to write in, but it produces a sort of rolling rhythm that goes well with a sea story. Some other pieces that you might know which are written in anapest are "The Night Before Christmas" and "Horton Hears a Who" by Dr. Suess... The anapastic rhythm goes diddy-DUM, diddy-DUM, diddy-DUM. It sounds a bit like a horse galloping... I'm glad you enjoyed it.

    Poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history.

    Plato (BC 427-BC 347) Greek philosopher.

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