The Old Cruiser Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ KKLL MMN OON PPQQ RRAA SSTT UUB VVWW XXYY ZZA2A2 B2B2C2C2 KKD2E2 F2F2G2| HERE 's the old cruiser 'Twenty nine | A |
| Forty times she 's crossed the line | A |
| Same old masts and sails and crew | B |
| Tight and tough and as good as new | B |
| - | |
| Into the harbor she bravely steers | C |
| Just as she 's done for these forty years | C |
| Over her anchor goes splash and clang | D |
| Down her sails drop rattle and bang | D |
| - | |
| Comes a vessel out of the dock | E |
| Fresh and spry as a fighting cock | E |
| Feathered with sails and spurred with steam | F |
| Heading out of the classic stream | F |
| - | |
| Crew of a hundred all aboard | G |
| Every man as fine as a lord | G |
| Gay they look and proud they feel | H |
| Bowling along on even keel | H |
| - | |
| On they float with wind and tide | I |
| Gain at last the old ship's side | I |
| Every man looks down in turn | J |
| Reads the name that's on her stern | J |
| - | |
| 'Twenty nine Diable you say | K |
| That was in Skipper Kirkland's day | K |
| What was the Flying Dutchman's name | L |
| This old rover must be the same | L |
| - | |
| 'Ho you Boatswain that walks the deck | M |
| How does it happen you're not a wreck | M |
| One and another have come to grief | N |
| How have you dodged by rock and reef ' | - |
| - | |
| Boatswain lifting one knowing lid | O |
| Hitches his breeches and shifts his quid | O |
| 'Hey What is it Who 's come to grief | N |
| Louder young swab I 'm a little deaf ' | - |
| - | |
| 'I say old fellow what keeps your boat | P |
| With all you jolly old boys afloat | P |
| When scores of vessels as good as she | Q |
| Have swallowed the salt of the bitter sea | Q |
| - | |
| 'Many a crew from many a craft | R |
| Goes drifting by on a broken raft | R |
| Pieced from a vessel that clove the brine | A |
| Taller and prouder than 'Twenty nine | A |
| - | |
| 'Some capsized in an angry breeze | S |
| Some were lost in the narrow seas | S |
| Some on snags and some on sands | T |
| Struck and perished and lost their hands | T |
| - | |
| 'Tell us young ones you gray old man | U |
| What is your secret if you can | U |
| We have a ship as good as you | B |
| Show us how to keep our crew ' | - |
| - | |
| So in his ear the youngster cries | V |
| Then the gray Boatswain straight replies | V |
| 'All your crew be sure you know | W |
| Never let one of your shipmates go | W |
| - | |
| 'If he leaves you change your tack | X |
| Follow him close and fetch him back | X |
| When you've hauled him in at last | Y |
| Grapple his flipper and hold him fast | Y |
| - | |
| 'If you've wronged him speak him fair | Z |
| Say you're sorry and make it square | Z |
| If he's wronged you wink so tight | A2 |
| None of you see what 's plain in sight | A2 |
| - | |
| 'When the world goes hard and wrong | B2 |
| Lend a hand to help him along | B2 |
| When his stockings have holes to darn | C2 |
| Don't you grudge him your ball of yarn | C2 |
| - | |
| 'Once in a twelvemonth come what may | K |
| Anchor your ship in a quiet bay | K |
| Call all hands and read the log | D2 |
| And give 'em a taste of grub and grog | E2 |
| - | |
| 'Stick to each other through thick and thin | F2 |
| All the closer as age leaks in | F2 |
| Squalls will blow and clouds will frown | G2 |
| But stay by your ship till you all go down ' | - |
Oliver Wendell Holmes
(1)
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