Drake's Drum
Drake he's in his hammock an' a thousand miles away,
(Capten, art tha sleepin' there below?)
Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay,
An' dreamin' arl the time O' Plymouth Hoe.
Yarnder lumes the Island, yarnder lie the ships,
Wi' sailor lads a-dancing' heel-an'-toe,
An' the shore-lights flashin', an' the night-tide dashin',
He sees et arl so plainly as he saw et long ago.
Drake he was a Devon man, an' ruled the Devon seas,
(Capten, art tha' sleepin' there below?)
Roving' tho' his death fell, he went wi' heart at ease,
A' dreamin' arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe.
"Take my drum to England, hang et by the shore,
Strike et when your powder's runnin' low;
If the Dons sight Devon, I'll quit the port o' Heaven,
An' drum them up the Channel as we drumm'd them long ago."
Drake he's in his hammock till the great Armadas come,
(Capten, art tha sleepin' there below?)
Slung atween the round shot, listenin' for the drum,
An' dreamin arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe.
Call him on the deep sea, call him up the Sound,
Call him when ye sail to meet the foe;
Where the old trade's plyin' an' the old flag flyin'
They shall find him ware an' wakin', as they found him long ago!
poem by Sir Henry Newbolt
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Waggon Hill
Drake in the North Sea grimly prowling,
Treading his dear _Revenge's_ deck,
Watched, with the sea-dogs round him growling,
Galleons drifting wreck by wreck.
'Fetter and Faith for England's neck,
Faggot and Father, Saint and chain,---
Yonder the Devil and all go howling,
Devon, O Devon, in wind and rain!
Drake at the last off Nombre lying,
Knowing the night that toward him crept,
Gave to the sea-dogs round him crying,
This for a sign before he slept:---
'Pride of the West! What Devon hath kept
Devon shall keep on tide or main;
Call to the storm and drive them flying,
Devon, O Devon, in wind and rain!'
Valour of England gaunt and whitening,
Far in a South land brought to bay,
Locked in a death-grip all day tightening,
Waited the end in twilight gray.
Battle and storm and the sea-dog's way!
Drake from his long rest turned again,
Victory lit thy steel with lightning,
Devon, o Devon, in wind and rain!
poem by Sir Henry Newbolt
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Laudabunt Alii
(After Horace)
Let others praise, as fancy wills,
Berlin beneath her trees,
Or Rome upon her seven hills,
Or Venice by her seas;
Stamboul by double tides embraced,
Or green Damascus in the waste.
For me there's nought I would not leave
For the good Devon land,
Whose orchards down the echoing cleeve
Bedewed with spray-drift stand,
And hardly bear the red fruit up
That shall be next year's cider-cup.
You too, my friend, may wisely mark
How clear skies follow rain,
And, lingering in your own green park
Or drilled on Laffan's Plain,
Forget not with the festal bowl
To soothe at times your weary soul.
When Drake must bid to Plymouth Hoe
Good-bye for many a day,
And some were sad and feared to go,
And some that dared not stay,
Be sure he bade them broach the best,
And raised his tankard with the rest.
'Drake's luck to all that sail with Drake
For promised lands of gold!
Brave lads, whatever storms may break,
We've weathered worse of old!
To-night the loving-cup we'll drain,
To-morrow for the Spanish Main!'
poem by Sir Henry Newbolt
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
At Least We're Dreaming
When do we get to the part where I can go home,
Been hiding inside the jungle gym for way too long
Waitin' for someone to come along and find me
Live in an apartment that bums me out
It don't get better when the lights go out
Waitin' for someone to come along and find me
Swimin' through the isles at the grocery store
I don't even know what I'm lookin for
Waitin' for someone to come along and find me
At least I'm breathin'
At least I'm alive
As long as I'm dreamin'
Everything's gonna be alright
To the corner to call collect
Your mother wants to know are you happy yet
Waitin' for someone to come along and find you
Goin' out at night lookin' for distractions
Sleepin' through the day there's no redemption
Waitin' for someone to come along and find you
At least you're breathin'
At least you're alive
As long as you're dreamin'
Everything's gonna be alright
I'm alright, I tell myself twice
In the mirror before I cant go to sleep at night
I need a lullaby I need some time
I need to get a dime bag from my guy [x2]
At least we're breathin
At least we're alive
As long as we're dreamin'
Everything's gonna be alright
I'm alright, I tell myself twice
In the mirror before I cant go to sleep at night
I need a lullaby I need some time
I need to get a dime bag from my guy [x2]
song performed by by Eve 6
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
A Slight Misunderstanding at the Jasper Gate
Oh, do you hear the argument, far up above the skies?
The voice of old Saint Peter, in expostulation rise?
Growing shrill, and ever shriller, at the thing that’s being done;
More in sorrow than in anger, like our old Jack Robertson.
Old Saint Peter’s had his troubles—heaps of troubles, great and small,
Since he kept the gates of Heaven—but this last one covers all!
It is not a crowing rooster—that’s a sight and sound he’s useter,
Simulated by some impish spirit that he knows full well;
It is simply Drake, of Devon, who is breaking out of Heaven,
With a crew of pirate brethren, to come down once more to Hell!
Oh, do you hear the distant sound, that seems to come and go,
As thunder does in summer time, when faraway and low?
Or the “croon” beneath the church bells, when they’re pealing from the tower—
And the church bells are the battle-call in this dark, anxious hour.
Do you feel the distant throbbing; Do you feel it go and come;
Like a war hymn on horizons, or a centuries-mellowed drum!
Hear it sobbing, hear it throbbing, like some not unhappy sobbing—
By the peaceful Devon landscape and the fair Devonian home!
By the land those spirits meet in—and it’s Drake’s Drum, spirit-beaten,
By perhaps the Rose of Torridge—and it’s calling Drake to come?
Oh, do you feel a cooling hand upon your fevered brow?
That dulls your ears to Hell’s Own Din—or that worse Silence, now?
In the starlight in the Channel, while Destruction lurks below,
Or that Nether-Hell, the Stoke-hole, where you cannot see or know?
Do you feel a soothing presence, keeping sanity in one
Going mad, in Satan’s Nightmare, where the gun-crew works the gun?
It is Raleigh!—Admiral-Poet, who had dreams though few may know it—
Who had dreams of England’s greatness, otherwise than by the sea.
Sorrowful but all-forgiving, bringing courage to the living—
Raleigh’s Spirit, not from London, but his Vanished Colony.
Oh, do you feel a stony calm that you had never known?
With comrades in the firing-line, or “Sentry Go” alone.
When it’s Hellfire all around you, and it’s freezing slush below,
Or you pace in rain and darkness, with Old Death, and “Sentry Go”—
Feel a cold determination that makes all but Now a blank;
That’s half foreign to your nature, and half foreign to your rank?
It is Wellington, where French is, who has broken Heaven’s trenches,
With his purple-blooded captains (who used purple language then)
Come to strengthen with his spirit all the coolness you inherit—
He who took the scum of Europe, and who trained them to be Men.
poem by Henry Lawson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Precious Love
(olivia newton-john /annie roboff)
In this world where life keeps changin
Nothin ever seems to be enough
I kept on, my soul was searchin
Lookin for something that would fill me up
I have always felt a yearnin
Somethin inside me was unsatisfied
Precious love you woke my heart up
Its been sleepin for such a long time
This crazy feelin I can believe in
Your love has found its way into my life
Take our time, slow and easy
Im so comfortable when Im with you
Catch my breath when you come near me
Cant control this if I wanted to
Thought Id never trust another
But here, in your arms, I feel safe again
Precious love you woke my heart up
Its been sleepin for such a long time
This crazy feelin I must be dreamin
Your love has found its way into my life
You touched a part of me
And set my spirit free
Precious love
This crazy feelin I must be dreamin
Your love has found its way into my life
You know your precious love has changed my life
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Admiral's Ghost
I tell you a tale to-night
Which a seaman told to me,
With eyes that gleamed in the lanthorn light
And a voice as low as the sea.
You could almost hear the stars
Twinkling up in the sky,
And the old wind woke and moaned in the spars
And the same old waves went by.
Singing the same old song
As ages and ages ago,
While he froze my blood in that deep-sea night
With the things he seemed to know.
A bare foot pattered on deck;
Ropes creaked; then-all grew still,
And he pointed his finger straight in my face
And growled, as a sea-dog will.
'Do 'ee know who Nelson was?
That pore little shrivelled form
With the patch on his eye and the pinned-up sleeve
And a soul like a North Sea storm?
'Ask of the Devonshire men!
They know, and they'll tell you true;
He wasn't the pore little chawed-up chap
That Hardy thought he knew.
'He wasn't the man you think!
His patch was a dern disguise!
For he knew that they'd find him out, d'you see,
If they looked him in both his eyes.
'He was twice as big as he seemed;
But his clothes were cunningly made.
He'd both of his hairy arms alright!
The sleeve was a trick of the trade.
'You've heard of sperrits, no doubt;
Well there's more in the matter than that!
But he wasn't the patch and he wasn't the sleeve,
And he wasn't the laced cocked-hat.
'Nelson was just-a Ghost!
You may laugh! But the Devonshire men
They knew that he'd come when England called,
And they know that he'll come again.
'I'll tell you the way it was
(For none of the landsmen know) ,
And to tell it you right, you must go a-starn
Two hundred years or so.
* * * * * * *
'The waves were lapping and slapping
The same as they are today;
And Drake lay dying aboard his ship
In Nobre Dios Bay.
'The scent of foreign flowers
Came floating all around;
'But I'd give my soul for the smell o' the pitch, '
Says he, 'in Plymouth Sound.
''What shall I do, ' he says,
'When the guns begin to roar,
An' England wants me, and me not there
To shatter 'er fores once more? '
'(You've heard what he said, maybe,
But I'll mark you the p'ints again;
For I want you to box your compass right
And get my story plain.)
' 'You must take my drum', he says,
'To the old sea-wall at home;
And if ever you strike that drum, ' he says,
'Why, strike me blind, I'll come!
''If England needs me, dead
Or living, I'll rise that day!
I'll rise from the darkness under the sea
Ten thousand miles away.'
'That's what he said; and he died;
An' his pirates, listenin' roun'
With their crimson doublets and jewelled swords
That flashed as the sun went down.
'They sewed him up in his shroud
With a round-shot top and toe,
To sink him under the salt-sharp sea
Where all good seamen go.
'They lowered him down in the deep,
And there in the sunset light
They boomed a broadside over his grave,
As meaning to say 'Good night.'
'They sailed away in the dark
To the dear little isle they knew;
And they hung his drum by the old sea-wall
The same as he told them to.
* * * * * * *
'Two hundred years went by,
And the guns began to roar,
And England was fighting hard for her life,
As ever she fought of yore.
''It's only my dead that count, '
She said, as she says today;
'It isn't the ships and it isn't the guns
'Ull sweep Trafalgar's Bay.'
'D'you guess who Nelson was?
You may laugh, but it's true as true!
There was more in that pore little chawed-up chap
Than ever his best friend knew.
'The foe was creepin' close,
In the dark, to our white-cliffed isle;
They were ready to leap at England's throat,
When-O, you may smile, you may smile;
'But-ask of the Devenshire men;
For they heard in the dead of night
The roll of a drum, and they saw him pass
On a ship all shining white.
'He stretched out his dead cold face
And he sailed in the grand old way!
The fishes had taken an eye and his arm,
But he swept Trafalgar's Bay.
'Nelson-was Francis Drake!
O, what matters the uniform,
Or the patch on your eye or your pinned-up sleeve,
If your soul's like a North Sea storm? '
poem by Alfred Noyes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Dreamin
I sit and wonder
How my life would be
If you were here with me
What a beautiful fantasy
Early in the morning
I find myself with tears in my eyes
From a dream that youre featured in
And it hurts deep inside
To know that you wont let me in to your life
And I wonder why
Im going crazy
I keep thinking about your foolish smile
Here I go I just cant stop
Dreamin
Dreamin
All the time
Im dreamin of all the joy we could have baby
Dreamin
Dreamin
For your heart
Im dreamin of all the love that we could share
Its my decision
To leave you now
Just because it hurts too much
Knowing youll never give enough
But how I long to
Experience the magic of your touch again
Now youre always on my mind
I just cant stop
Dreamin
Dreamin
All the time
Im dreamin of all the time we could have baby
Dreamin
Dreamin
For your heart
Im dreamin of all the love that we could share
I think of the time we had
Youre making me want you so bad
Im watching you walk away
But I wish I could make you stay
The only thing that I can do
Is baby baby to dream of you
I wake up in the morning thinking bout you baby
All the time and the time that we could be together yeah
song performed by by Vonda Shepard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Singing Waterfall
Recorded by hank williams, sr.
Written by fred rose and hank williams, sr.
Theres a [c] singin waterfall
In the [f] mountains far a-[c] way
Thats where I long to be
At the [d7] close of evry [g7] day
Thats [c] where my sweethearts sleepin
[f] down beneath the [c] clay
I [f] often sit and [c] wonder
Why the [g7] lord took her a-[c] way.
Chorus
Wed meet there evry evnin
When the [f] sun was sinkin [c] low
And wed listen to the waters
As they [d7] rippled soft and [g7] low
And [c] since shes gone to heaven
I [f] miss her most of [c] all
To-[f] night my darlins [c] sleepin
By the [g7] singin water-[c] fall.
Last night as I lay dreamin
I heard my darlin call
And then I went to meet her
By the singin waterfall
She took me in her arms
Just like she used to do
And then I heard her whisper
Well meet beyond the blue.
Chorus
song performed by by Hank Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I'm Still Dreamin'
I know people who lose their lovers
Turn around and they find another
Fall in love and then they break up
But I don't know if I want to wake up
'Cause I'm still dreamin'
I'm still dreamin', baby
I'm still dreamin'
Whoa, about you
Other women walk right up to me
I hear them talking but it goes right through me
I know its love that's on the line
But they don't know what's on my mind
Cause I'm still dreamin'
I'm still dreamin', baby
I'm still dreamin'
Whoa, about you
It's like a voice that's always calling
It's like a feeling that I'm always falling
I close my eyes and all I see is you, you, you
Cause I'm still dreamin'
I'm still dreamin', baby
I'm still dreamin'
Whoa, about you
(Key Change)
I'm still dreamin'
I'm still dreamin', baby
I'm still dreamin'
I'm still dreamin', baby
Dreamin about you baby
I'm still dreamin'
Keep on dreamin about you baby
I'm still dreamin'
I'm still dreamin', baby
song performed by by Alabama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Admirals All
Effingham, Grenville, Raleigh, Drake,
Here's to the bold and free!
Benbow, Collingwood, Byron, Blake,
Hail to the Kings of the Sea!
Admirals all, for England's sake,
Honour be yours and fame!
And honour, as long as waves shall break,
To Nelson's peerless name!
Admirals all, for England's sake,
Honour be yours and fame!
And honour, as long as waves shall break,
To Nelson's peerless name!
Essex was fretting in Cadiz Bay
With the galleons fair in sight;
Howard at last must give him his way,
And the word was passed to fight.
Never was schoolboy gayer than he,
Since holidays first began:
He tossed his bonnet to wind and sea,
And under the guns he ran.
Drake nor devil nor Spaniard feared,
Their cities he put to the sack;
He singed his Catholic Majesty's beard,
And harried his ships to wrack.
He was playing at Plymouth a rubber of bowls
When the great Armada came;
But he said, 'They must wait their turn, good souls,'
And he stooped and finished the game.
Fifteen sail were the Dutchmen bold,
Duncan he had but two;
But he anchored them fast where the Texel shoaled,
And his colours aloft he flew.
'I've taken the depth to a fathom,' he cried,
'And I'll sink with a right good will:
For I know when we're all of us under the tide
My flag will be fluttering still.'
Splinters were flying above, below,
When Nelson sailed the Sound:
'Mark you, I wouldn't be elsewhere now,'
Said he, 'for a thousand pound!'
The Admiral's signal bade him fly
But he wickedly wagged his head:
He clapped the glass to his sightless eye,
And 'I'm damned if I see it!' he said.
Admirals all, they said their say
(The echoes are ringing still).
Admirals all, they went their way
To the haven under the hill.
But they left us a kingdom none can take,
The realm of the circling sea,
To be ruled by the rightful sons of Blake,
And the Rodneys yet to be.
Admirals all, for England's sake,
Honour be yours and fame!
And honour, as long as waves shall break,
To Nelson's peerless name!
poem by Sir Henry Newbolt
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Dreamin
Four oclock Ive been walkin all night
Its the time I always think of you
If you could only see through my eyes
Then youd know just what Im going through
Here am I Im taking a chance
In running around with stars in my eyes
Here am I Im looking for you
Wondering why do I feel so blue
Im dreamin dreamin of me and you
Im dreamin dreamin will see me through
Never letting chances pass me by
Im gonna dream you right into my life
Yeah dream you right into my life
(dreamin dreamin will see me through)
Woman youd better believe im
(dreamin you into my life)
Five oclock still walking around
I call you up but you just bring me down
I guess youd say Im getting nowhere
But in my dreams you always come around
Here am I Im takin a chance
Im walking on air flyin so high
Here am I Im facing the truth
Theres no other way Ill ever make you mine
Im dreamin
Dreamin of me and you
Dreamin dreamin will see me through
Never letting chances pass me by
Im gonna dream you right into my life
(dreamin dreamin will see me through)
Woman youd better believe that Ill be
(dreamin you into my life)
Woman youve got to believe me woman
Oh woman youve got to believe me woman
Ill be (dreamin you into my life)
Youve got to believe me woman
Woman oh woman youve got to believe me Ill be forever
(dreamin you into my life) oh woman you got to believe me
song performed by by Cliff Richard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Rest Stop
Were just 3 miles, from the rest stop
And she slams on the breaks
She said I tried to be but Im not
And could you please collect your things
Well I dont wanna be cold
I dont wanna be cruel
But Ive gotta find more than whats happened with you
So if youd open up my door
(chorus)
She said while you were sleepin
I was listenin to the radio and wonderin what you were dreamin when
It came to mind that I didnt care
So I thought hell if its over
Then I had better end it quick or I could lose my nerve
Are you listenin? can you hear me?
Have you forgotten?
Just 3 miles from the rest stop
And my mouths too dry to reach it
A light was shining from the radio
And I could barely see her face
But she knew all the words that I never had said
She knew the crumbled up promise of a broken down man
As I opened up my door
(chorus)
But Ive forgotten, yeah
Have you forgotten?
You just dont love to love like I love
(chorus)
While you were sleepin
I was listenin to the radio and wonderin what you were dreamin when
It came to mind that I didnt care
Hell if its over
I had better end it quick or I could lose all my nerve
Are you listenin? can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
song performed by by Matchbox 20
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Lady With A Bluebird
Written by dewey bunnell, bill mumy, and robert haimer, 1984
Found on perspective, premium gold collection, and centenary collection.
She came out of the blue and into my world
She came out of the blue and into my world
I went out of my head over you
She was a lady with a bluebird sleepin in her chair
She was dreamin bout a girlfriend and wishing she was there
She was a lady with a bluebird
Under the bridge I saw mercury flow
Between me and you and a fine tooth comb
She came out of the blue and into my world
She was a lady with a bluebird sleepin in her chair
She was dreamin bout a girlfriend and wishing she was there
She was a lady with a bluebird
I close my eyes, I still see blue
I hear her voice, Ill wait for you
I still see blue
She came out of the blue and into my world
Oh, she came out of the blue and into my world
She was a lady with a bluebird sleepin in her chair
She was dreamin bout a girlfriend and wishing she was there
She was a lady with a bluebird
song performed by by America
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed
Something's in the air
I answer the phone and there's nobody there
And your changin' the way that you're wearin your hair
And I wonder
Yes I wonder
Something's on my mind
The letters you get, cigarettes that I find
And you know I have to be deaf ,dumb and blind
Not to wonder
Not to wonder
Who's been sleeping in my bed
Gettin' what I get
When I don't get it
Who's been sleeping in my bed
Yeah, that's what I said
I just don't get it
Who's been sleepin'
Who's been sleepin' in my bed
Little things I miss
The ring on your finger, the fire in your kiss
How the hell could the love that we had come to this
And I wonder
Yes I wonder
I don't understand
The paperboy winks at the telephone man
And the milkman he smiles when he's shakin' my hand
And I wonder
Yes I wonder
Who's been sleeping in my bed
Gettin'what I get
When I don't get it
Who's been sleeping in my bed
Yeah, that's what I said
I just don't get it
Who's been sleepin'
Who's been sleepin' in my bed
Who's been sleeping in my bed
Gettin' what I get
When I don't get it
Who's been sleepin' in my bed
Yeah, that's what I said
I just don't get it
Who's been sleepin'
Who's been sleepin in my bed
Who's been sleepin'in my bed
Who's been sleepin'in my bed
Who's been sleepin'in my bed
Who's been sleepin'in my bed
Who's been
You got to tell me
You got to,got to,got to got to tell me,come on
Hell I could see it your eyes that you've been seein' other guys
Tell me who's been sleepin' in my bed-acap
song performed by by Barry Manilow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Dreamin On
She takes the heart of mine
She make it beat in time
In fact shes mine forever
And Ill never ever know the reason why
Funny how she writes letters to me
Shes only human but she keeps goin through me
We came to love in the neighborhood
And the love dont cease to grow
And if you need me darlin
Ill be dreamin on
Dreamin on for you baby
Dreamin on for you woman-child
Dreamin on for you baby
She makes the skies grow dark
She makes the darkness bright
She make the wind grow warm in
The wake of another cold and stormy night
And anywhere she needs me Ill be runnin to
cause she fits me like a glove
And tho Id really like to be with you
She gave me love when there was no love
And I would not let her go
So if you need me darlin
Ill be dreamin on
Dreamin on for you baby
Dreamin on for you woman-child
Dreamin on for you baby
(break)
Ill be dreamin on
Dreamin on for you baby
Dreamin on for you woman-child
Dreamin on for you baby
Ah....
For you baby
Ah...(fade)
song performed by by Bee Gees
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Dreamin
For the life of me
I never thought that it could be
The way it stands right now
Emotions running high
Every night I wish that i
Could tell you how I feel
Those words are here in my heart
Oh but there is just one missing part
How to put it together
How to say it right
And let you know that
Every night
Ill be dreamin
Dreamin
Hoping baby you will be there
Ill be dreamin
Dreamin
Hoping baby you will be there
Let me take time out
To try and find out
If this could be real
Cause reality scares me
Ive been living a fantasy
How should I feel
Those words are here in my heart
Oh but there is just one missing part
How to put it together
How to say it right
And let you know that
Every night
Ill be dreamin
Dreamin
Hoping baby you will be there
Ill be dreamin
Dreamin
Hoping baby you will be there
Written by montegomary/paschal
song performed by by Vanessa Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Dreamin' About You
Beyond the words
Of beauty and desire
A memory of you
Sets me on fire
Your voice was magic
Your eye's will paralyze
I fell out of your spell
I was mesmerized
(Chorus)
I wish you would make it real
(Dreamin about you)
If only you knew that I was
(Dreamin about you)
If my wishes could come true
(Dreamin about you)
You've got to got to know that I am
(Dreamin about you)
Even when your heart
I could not find
I keep you locked up
Inside my mind
You dance through my thoughts
All of the time
To want someone this bad
Just must be a crime
(Chorus)
Dreamin about you
Every day and every night
(Guitar Solo)
Oh life's just a battle
I fight it every day
Sometimes I wonder
If it's worth it to stay
But when I'm down
It's you I'm thinking of
Someone special
Somebody I can love
(Chorus)
song performed by by Kick Axe from Vices
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Frankie's Trade
Old Horn to All Atlantic said:
(A-hay O! To me O!)
"Now where did Frankie learn his trade?
For he ran me down with a three-reef mains'I."
(All round the Horn!)
Atlantic answered:--"Not from me!
You'd better ask the cold North Sea,
For he ran me down under all plain canvas."
(All round the Horn!)
The North Sea answered: -- "He's my man,
For he came to me when he began--
Frankie Drake in an open coaster.
(All round the Sands!)
"I caught him young and I used him sore,
So you never shall startle Frankie more,
Without capsizing Earth and her waters.
(All round the Sands!)
"I did not favour him at all.
I made him pull and I made him haul--
And stand his trick with the common sailors.
(All round the Sands!)
"I froze him stiff and I fogged him blind,
And kicked him home with his road to find
By what he could see in a three-day snowy-storm.
(All round the Sands!)
"I learned him his trade o' winter nights,
'Twixt Mardyk Fort and Dunkirk lights,
On a five-knot tide with the forts a-firing.
(All round the Sands!)
"Before his beard began to shoot,
I showed him the length of the Spaniard's foot--
And I reckon he clapped the boot on it later.
(All round the Sands!)
"If there's a risk which you can make,
That's worse than he was used to take
Nigh every week in the way of his business;
(All round the Sands!)
"If there's a trick that you can try,
Which he hasn't met in time gone by,
Not once or twice, but ten times over;
(All round the Sands!)
"If you can teach him aught that's new,
(A-hay O! To me O!)
I'll give you Bruges and Niewport too,
And the ten tall churches that stand between
Storm along, my gallant Captains!
(All round the Horn!)
poem by Rudyard Kipling
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
From an Outpost
I've tramped South England up and down
Down Dorset way, down Devon way,
Through every little ancient town
Down Dorset way, down Devon way.
I mind the old stone churches there,
The taverns round the market square,
The cobbled streets, the garden flowers,
The sundials telling peaceful hours
Down Dorset way, down Devon way.
The Meadowlands are green and fair
Down Somerset and Sussex way,
The clover scent is in the air
Down Somerset and Sussex way.
I mind the deep-thatched homesteads there
The noble downlands, clean and bare.
The sheepfolds and the cattle byres,
The blue wood-smoke from shepherd's fires
Down Dorset way, down Devon way.
Mayhap I shall not walk again
Down Dorset way, down Devon way,
Nor pick a posy in a lane
Down Somerset and Sussex way.
But though my bones, unshriven, rot
In some far distant alien spot,
what soul I have shall rest from care
To know that meadows still are fair
Down Dorset way, down Devon way.
poem by Leslie Coulson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Long Hard Road
Way back in my memory there's a scene that i recall
Of a little run-down cabin in the woods
Where my dad never promised that our blue moon would turn gold
But he laid awake nights wishin' that it would.
When the world was on our radio, hard work was on our minds.
We lived our day-to-day in plain dirt fashion,
With ol' overalls and cotton balls all strapped across your back
Man, it's hard to make believe there ain't nothing wrong.
But momma kept the bible read and daddy kept our family fed,
And somewhere in between i must have grown
Cause someday i was dreamin' that a song that i was singin'
Takes me down the road to where i want to go.
Now i know, it's a long hard road
Sometimes i remember when i stay up late at night,
When the sun-up came, we got up and went
In the shadows of a working' day, our moonlight hours spent
Singin' songs along with gramma's radio.
Now i'm beatin' down a ol' blacktop road, sleepin' in a sack,
Livin' in my memories all in vain
'cause those city lights ain't all that bright, compared to what its like
To see lightning bugs go dancin' in the rain.
Momma played the guitar then, and daddy made the saw blade bend,
And raindrops played the tin roof like a drum.
But i just kept on dreamin' that a song that i was singin'
Takes me down the road to where my name is known.
Now i'm gone, and its a long hard road
Yes, i know, its a long hard road.
song performed by by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!