Sea Shanty
Today’s daily prompt (optional, as always) again comes from our archives. I’m playing to my own strengths here, but I challenge you to write a sea shanty (or shantey, or chanty, or chantey — there’s a good deal of disagreement regarding the spelling!) Anyway, these are poems in the forms of songs, strongly rhymed and rhythmic, that sailors might sing while hauling on ropes and performing other sea-going labors. Probably the two most famous sea shanties (at least before TikTok gave us The Wellerman) are What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor? and Blow the Man Down. And what should your poem be about? Well, I suppose it could be about anything, although some nautical phrases tossed into the chorus would be good for keeping the sea in your shanty. Haul away, boys, haul away!
How the bow breaks
Old Johnny is dead
She came from Atlantis
Right into his bed
Johnny was older
way past his prime
he was locked in Kilmainham
For another man's crime
When he got out
He buit his own shack
He filled all his chests
with gin and cognac
How the bow breaks
Old Johnny is dead
She came from Atlantis
Right into his bed
He lived for a few years
A hermit alone
With a view of the ocean
A home of his own
When under the moonlight
The lass first appeared
Her boat ran aground
And Johnny volunteered
How the bow breaks
Old Johnny is dead
She came from Atlantis
Right into his bed
She came every night
Along the white strand
With fire in her heart
and a hook for a hand
Johnny was smitten
She offered to marry
But he would never tell her
Where his treasure was buried
How the bow breaks
Old Johnny is dead
She came from Atlantis
Right into his bed
Johnny was a drinker
he drank every night
And sometimes he beat her
When the moon was not bright
A prisoner once Johnny
A prisoner now she
She worked up a plan
To help her get free
How the bow breaks
Old Johnny is dead
She came from Atlantis
Right into his bed
Her plans never worked
Old Johnny was shrewd
She knew the old world
But he knew the new
She fed him his cognac
'till he was flat in his bed
She drove her coral hook
Right into his head
How the bow breaks
Old Johnny is dead
She came from Atlantis
Right into his bed
Johnny woke screaming
With last breath exclaimed
"You're not from Atlantis,
but a ghost from Kilmainham"
How the bow breaks
Old Johnny is dead
She came from Atlantis
He died in his bed