Hempen Halter

by Nicko   Jan 24, 2011


Blasted
Mizzen mast nor portal
Shaken vessels planks asunder
See blood n biscuit
Tote of rum
Did course through Johnny's heart

Midshipmen crack 'in marksman
Devils tattoo carved deep his blackened soul
Mighty blunderbuss held fast
N deadly aim through Johnny's heart
Did silent Capt'in fall
Cockswain blood stained beside

Binnacle askew
Be shattered all to shards
Forsaken knot of Futtock Shrouds
Under cannon fire it twas
Davy's grip upon us held
Keen as "Abaft" rang loud

Clambering over fo'c's'le
With Capt'in gone to hell
Whistling muzzle ringing ears
Dried sea salt in our guts
We cleansed the deck of scum n fear
Till chalk n tar did coat our cloth

Stood astride that heaving deck
All buckled up and tight
We've cast our dice with the devils might
Curse'd Black jack, clasp in hands
So never look me in the eye
For eye won't look thou back
Nor the ghosts that I did sire

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Latest Comments

  • 12 years ago

    by abracadabra

    Arrrrr, me hearty! You do the pirates proud, Nicko. You certainly know how to get into character. Everything was vivid: I could feel the violent sway of the ship, the sea spray upon my lips, the cursed dirt and salt over everything. I could hear your gutteral voice and I was transported, briefly, to my dream to be a pirate one day.

  • 12 years ago

    by Acoustic Odyssey

    Wow, now this is definitely one of the most interesting piece of art I've read on this site. When I was reading it, I couldn't help but sense a tune. I saw a Captain and his men, singing this as they went about their work on the ship. I was familiar with quite a few of the words; and even though I wasn't familiar with all, I enjoyed it all the same. A refreshing read!

    Take care

  • 13 years ago

    by Kiko

    This is truly wonderful. I really enjoyed the authentic pirate jargon. Very nice!

    When I was reading it, I tried to read it as if it were a ballad. It almost reads like one, so it wouldn't take too much effort to make it into a ballad if you had the mind to.

    Here is an example of a ballad:

    http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-ballad-of-john-silver/

  • 13 years ago

    by Courageous Dreamer

    This is not a language that most people are familiar with, it's definitely different yet I think one could truly gain a lot of knowledge if they looked up the words and spent time studying the poem. It's complex, and far from straight forward (at least not for me) since I am not familiar with this terminology but I think you did a nice job from what I can see, you obviously know a lot about this topic. It's a challenging write for one to understand, but I think you definitely intend for it to be that way, or it is intended to be that way because it's not an everyday vocabulary that most are familiar with. I'll have to look further into this poem when I have more time, thanks for sharing.

  • 13 years ago

    by trippetta TC

    Ohhh, I loved the nautical pirate imagery, although it took me awhile to look up and understand some of the seafaring terminology (which to makes it even more enjoyable a read)