Classic and Contemporary Poetry
JOHN COMPANY'S SHIPS, by CICELY FOX SMITH Poet's Biography First Line: John company's ships, they sailed the seas Last Line: John company's ships of the days of old. Subject(s): Imperialism; Nostalgia; Ships & Shipping; Trade | ||||||||
JOHN COMPANY'S ships, they sailed the seas -- The Merchant's Hope and the Trade's Increase, Globe and Dragon and Hector too, Thames and Canning and Waterloo -- With gums and ingots and spice and silk, Blood-red rubies and pearls like milk . . . Idols of ivory, cups of jade, Caskets of ebony gold-inlaid, Lacquer and crystal, gifts for kings, Brass and filigree, beads and rings, Rugs like the sunset, madder and gold, John Company's ships brought home of old. John Company's ships, they were steady and slow, Their tops'ls came in when it started to blow, For their hulls were roomy and round and wide, Bluff in the bows and big in the side, And they loaded them deep and they crammed them full With the cargoes they bought from the Great Mogul . . . But they held their own when it came to a scrap With a Barbary rover or any such chap, And many a pirate or privateer That had smacked his lips as the prize drew near Limped home with his wounds at the last to tell John Company's ships could fight as well. * * * * * * * John Company's ships, they went their way, They cleared and they sailed for Dead Men's Bay, With captains gallant in blue and gold, And bawling bosuns and seamen bold, Bows all splendid with gilt and glitter, Pennants streaming and pipes a-twitter, Carven stern-ports and guns arow, Flashing brasses and decks like snow -- They went their way: and the gulls they call On London's river, by old Blackwall, And the winds they blow and the tides they run The same to-day as they've always done: But they are gone like a tale that's told -- John Company's ships of the days of old. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PRICE OF WOMEN by KAREN SWENSON BLUE CANTON-WARE by SARAH A. ATHEARN MERCHANT ADVENTURERS (WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO SIMEON STRUNSKY) by BERTON BRALEY DIGGING POTATERS IN VERMONT by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY SELLING A COW IN VERMONT by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. A TRADE by EDWARD CARPENTER SWEET MEAT HAS SOUR SAUCE; OR, THE SLAVE-TRADER IN THE DUMPS by WILLIAM COWPER THE FLEECE: BOOK 2 by JOHN DYER A CHANNEL RHYME by CICELY FOX SMITH |
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