Poet Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson

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The Stranded Ship: (the -vincennes�) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EFGG HHEE IIJJ KKLL MMAA CCNN

Twas the glowing log of a picnic fire where a red light should not beA
Or the curtained glow of a sick room light in a window that faced the seaA
But the Manly lights seemed the Sydney lights and the bluffs as the Heads were seenB
And the Manly beach was the channel then and the captain steered betweenB
-
The croakers said with a shoulder shrug and a careless know all glanceC
You might pull out her stem or pull out her stern but she ll sail no more for FranceC
Her stem was dry when the tide was out and behind her banked the sandD
Where strong gales come from the Hurricane east and the sun sets on the landD
-
When the tide was high and the rollers struck she shuddered as if in painE
She had no hope for the open sea and the fair full breeze againF
She turned her side to the pounding seas and the foam glared over the railsG
It seemed her fate to be sold and stripped and broken by winter galesG
-
But they sent strong gear and they sent the gangs and they sent her a man who knewH
And the tugs came nosing round from the Heads to see what a tug could doH
The four ton anchors they laid to sea in the waves and the wind and rainE
And the great steel hawser they hove aboard made fast to her cable chainE
-
And then while the gaping townsfolk stared from the shining beach in doubtI
The crew and the shore gangs lowered her yards and they hove the ballast outI
To lie like a strange sea grave upheaved on the smooth sand by her sideJ
And they made all ready and clear for the tugs to come on the rising tideJ
-
And so in the night when the tide was in and a black sky hid the starsK
The shoremen worked at the jumping winch and the crew at the capstan barsK
To seaward the two tugs rose and fell in their own wild stormy glareL
And her head came round for a fathom s length for a mighty heave was thereL
-
So tide by tide and yard by yard they hove her off the shoreM
To fit and load for her ports of call and to sail for France once moreM
Till at last she came with the wild blind rush of a frightened thing set freeA
And they towed her round to the Sydney Heads and in from the stormy seaA
-
And the croakers say when a man is down with a shrug and a know all glanceC
Oh he ll never get out of the gutter again he has done with every chanceC
But we ll haul and heave on the block and sheeve wave beaten and black rock hemmedN
And we ll sail with cargoes that they shall buy when their ships are all condemnedN

Henry Lawson



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About The Stranded Ship: (the -vincennes�)

The Stranded Ship: (the -vincennes�) is a poem by Henry Lawson. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.


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