Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OLD ANCHOR CHANTY by HERBERT TRENCH

First Line: WITH A LONG HEAVY HEAVE, MY VERY FAMOUS MEN
Last Line: (BRING HOME!)
Subject(s): SEA; OCEAN;
@3First Voice.@1

WITH a long heavy heave, my very famous men. . . .
(CHORUS. @3Bring home! heave and rally!@1)

@3Second Voice.@1

And why do you, lad, look so pale? Is it for love, or lack of ale?

@3First Voice.@1

All hands bear a hand that have a hand to len' --
And there never was a better haul than you gave then . . . .
(CHORUS. @3Bring home!@1)

@3First Voice.@1

Heave hearty, my very famous men . . . .
(@3Bring home! heave and rally!@1)

@3Second Voice.@1

Curl and scud, rack and squall -- sea-clouds you shall know them all . . .

@3First Voice.@1

For we're bound for Valparaiso and round the Horn again
From Monte Desolado to the parish of Big Ben! . . . .
(@3Bring home!@1)

@3First Voice.@1

Heave hearty, my very famous men . . . .
(@3Bring home! heave and rally!@1)

@3Second Voice.@1

Bold through all or scuppers under, when shall we be back, I wonder?

@3First Voice.@1

From the green and chancy water we shall all come back again
To the Lizard and the ladies -- but who can say for when? . . . .
(@3Bring home!@1)

@3First Voice.@1

Heave and she's a-trip, my very famous men . . . .
(@3Bring home! heave and rally!@1)

@3Second Voice.@1

When your fair lass says farewell to you a fair wind I will sell to you . . . .

@3First Voice.@1

You may sell your soul's salvation, but I'll bet you two-pound-ton
She's a-tripping on the ribs of the devil in his den . . . .
(@3Bring home!@1)

@3First Voice.@1

Heave and she's a-peak, my very famous men . . . .
(@3Bring home! heave and rally!@1)

@3Second Voice.@1

You shall tread, for one cruzado, Fiddler's Green in El Dorado . . . .

@3First Voice.@1

Why, I've seen less lucky fellows pay for liquor with doubloons
And for 'baccy with ozellas, gold mohurs, and ducatoons! . . . .
(@3Bring home!@1)

@3First Voice.@1

Heave and a-weigh, my very famous men . . . .
(@3Bring home! heave and rally!@1)

@3Second Voice.@1

And drop her next in heat or cold, the flukes of England they shall hold! . . .
.

@3First Voice.@1

Ring and shank, stock and fluke, she's coming into ken --
Give a long and heavy heave, she's a-coming into ken. . . .
(@3Bring home!@1)

@3First Voice.@1

Heave and in sight, my very famous men . . . .
(@3Bring home! heave and rally!@1)

@3Second Voice.@1

With her shells and tangle dripping she's a beauty we are shipping . . . .

@3First Voice.@1

And she likes a bed in harbour like a decent citizen,
But her fancy for a hammock on the deep sea comes again . . . .
(@3Bring home!@1)

@3First Voice.@1

Heave and she's a-wash, my very famous men . . . .
(@3Bring home! heave and rally!@1)

@3Second Voice.@1

O never stop to write the news that we are off upon a cruise . . . .

@3First Voice.@1

For the Gulf of Californy's got a roller now and then
But it's better to be sailing than a-sucking of a pen . . . .
(@3Bring home!@1)



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