Ballad Of Fisher's Boarding-house Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDB EFGFHF IJKLML NOPOQO RSTSRS MEUVRE RWXWEW YRNRZR MNA2NRN B2SC2SRS NOGORO MMRMD2S SE2SE2SE2 MRF2RG2R RMSMRM MSSSRS NOSORO'T was Fultah Fisher's boarding house | A |
Where sailor men reside | B |
And there were men of all the ports | C |
From Mississip to Clyde | B |
And regally they spat and smoked | D |
And fearsomely they lied | B |
- | |
They lied about the purple Sea | E |
That gave them scanty bread | F |
They lied about the Earth beneath | G |
The Heavens overhead | F |
For they had looked too often on | H |
Black rum when that was red | F |
- | |
They told their tales of wreck and wrong | I |
Of shame and lust and fraud | J |
They backed their toughest statements with | K |
The Brimstone of the Lord | L |
And crackling oaths went to and fro | M |
Across the fist banged board | L |
- | |
And there was Hans the blue eyed Dane | N |
Bull throated bare of arm | O |
Who carried on his hairy chest | P |
The maid Ultruda's charm | O |
The little silver crucifix | Q |
That keeps a man from harm | O |
- | |
And there was Jake Without the Ears | R |
And Pamba the Malay | S |
And Carboy Gin the Guinea cook | T |
And Luz from Vigo Bay | S |
And Honest Jack who sold them slops | R |
And harvested their pay | S |
- | |
And there was Salem Hardieker | M |
A lean Bostonian he | E |
Russ German English Halfbreed Finn | U |
Yank Dane and Portugee | V |
At Fultah Fisher's boarding house | R |
They rested from the sea | E |
- | |
Now Anne of Austria shared their drinks | R |
Collinga knew her fame | W |
From Tarnau in Galicia | X |
To Juan Bazaar she came | W |
To eat the bread of infamy | E |
And take the wage of shame | W |
- | |
She held a dozen men to heel | Y |
Rich spoil of war was hers | R |
In hose and gown and ring and chain | N |
From twenty mariners | R |
And by Port Law that week men called | Z |
Her Salem Hardieker's | R |
- | |
But seamen learnt what landsmen know | M |
That neither gifts nor gain | N |
Can hold a winking Light o' Love | A2 |
Or Fancy's flight restrain | N |
When Anne of Austria rolled her eyes | R |
On Hans the blue eyed Dane | N |
- | |
Since Life is strife and strife means knife | B2 |
From Howrah to the Bay | S |
And he may die before the dawn | C2 |
Who liquored out the day | S |
In Fultah Fisher's boarding house | R |
We woo while yet we may | S |
- | |
But cold was Hans the blue eyed Dane | N |
Bull throated bare of arm | O |
And laughter shook the chest beneath | G |
The maid Ultruda's charm | O |
The little silver crucifix | R |
That keeps a man from harm | O |
- | |
quot You speak to Salem Hardieker | M |
quot You was his girl I know | M |
quot I ship mineselfs to morrow see | R |
quot Und round the Skaw we go | M |
quot South down the Cattegat by Hjelm | D2 |
quot To Besser in Saro quot | S |
- | |
When love rejected turns to hate | S |
All ill betide the man | E2 |
quot You speak to Salem Hardieker quot | S |
She spoke as woman can | E2 |
A scream a sob quot He called me names quot | S |
And then the fray began | E2 |
- | |
An oath from Salem Hardieker | M |
A shriek upon the stairs | R |
A dance of shadows on the wall | F2 |
A knife thrust unawares | R |
And Hans came down as cattle drop | G2 |
Across the broken chairs | R |
- | |
- | |
- | |
In Anne of Austria's trembling hands | R |
The weary head fell low | M |
quot I ship mineselfs to morrow straight | S |
quot For Besser in Saro | M |
quot Und there Ultruda comes to me | R |
quot At Easter und I go | M |
- | |
quot South down the Cattegat What's here | M |
quot There are no lights to guide quot | S |
The mutter ceased the spirit passed | S |
And Anne of Austria cried | S |
In Fultah Fisher's boarding house | R |
When Hans the mighty died | S |
- | |
Thus slew they Hans the blue eyed Dane | N |
Bull throated bare of arm | O |
But Anne of Austria looted first | S |
The maid Ultruda's charm | O |
The little silver crucifix | R |
That keeps a man from harm | O |
Rudyard Kipling
(1)
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