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Ship, Sail, Boat: The Age of Sea Shanties Poetry Prompt

By Heather Eure 23 Comments

the_age_of_sea_shanties

I soon got used to this singing, for the sailors never touched a rope without it . . . Some sea captains, before shipping a man, always ask him whether he can sing out at a rope.

–Herman Melville, Redburn

During the age of sailing, sea shanties were used to keep rhythm while hoisting sails and accomplishing tasks requiring teamwork. It also seemed to make the hard work a little more pleasant. Most of the themes revolved around a sailor’s life: long hours of backbreaking labor; abuses by captain and crew; girls and lost love; alcohol; and of course, a longing for dry land.

Typically, the format of a shanty was call-and-response. The Shantyman would sing out a verse followed by a response from the rest of the sailors— the work balanced in a rhythmic pattern.

Shanties were broken into categories, depending on the type of work being performed. Windlass shanties were used when the leaky wooden ship needed to be pumped out. Long haul and short haul shanties were used in rope pulling and capstan shanties were sung whenever sailors raised and lowered the anchor.

A classic short haul shanty is Haul Away Joe. It includes one of the wittiest lines of any sea shanty: “When I was a little lad my mother always told me…that if I did not kiss the girls, my lips would grow all moldy.” You can read the rest of the lyrics to Haul Away Joe, here.

Blood Red Roses is a long haul shanty about whalers rounding Cape Horn, a perilous task for sailors because of strong winds and unpredictable weather. You can read the lyrics of Blood Red Roses, here.

If you’ve encountered the Spongebob Squarepants theme song, then Blow the Man Down will be familiar to you, as it is a variation of this melody. In the original (and lively) shanty, the song title and chorus call attention to the abuse sailors endured on the Black Ball Line. You can read the lyrics to Blow the Man Down, here.

Try It

You are the Shantyman (or woman)! Use the melody from one of the sea shanties above (or your old favorite) and write your own shanty, depicting daily life… as you know it. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can imagine yourself a sailor during the age of sailing ships.  What are your complaints? Who do you miss? You can also retell a story about a ship. Remember to keep your lyrics simple and rhythmic.

Featured Poem

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here’s a poem from Laura we enjoyed:

The Writing Process

Materials enough to craft an ark!
Embellishments to spruce up fore and aft!
Grand notions, keen descriptions will embark!
Yet once more I shove off with just a raft.

—by Laura Brown

Photo by Andrew Stawarz, Creative Commons via Flickr.

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  • Author
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Heather Eure
Heather Eure
Heather Eure has served as the Poetry Editor for the late Burnside Collective and Special Projects Editor for us at Tweetspeak Poetry. Her poems have appeared at Every Day Poems. Her wit has appeared just about everywhere she's ever showed up, and if you're lucky you were there to hear it.
Heather Eure
Latest posts by Heather Eure (see all)
  • Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
  • Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
  • Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018

Filed Under: Blog, Boat Poems, poetry prompt, poetry teaching resources, Sail, Ship, Ship-Sail-Boat, Themed Writing Projects, work poems, writer's group resources, writing prompts

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Comments

  1. Donna Z Falcone says

    July 27, 2015 at 9:27 am

    Laura, I love that!

    What a fun prompt – my shanty gears are turnin’!
    I can’t wait to see what people come up with, here!

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      July 27, 2015 at 10:12 pm

      Me too, Donna!

      Reply
  2. L. L. Barkat says

    July 27, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    What a totally fun post. This is not a form I was really aware of. Seems that work asks for poetry even on the sea 🙂

    Reply
    • Laura Brown says

      July 28, 2015 at 11:28 am

      Are you familiar with waulking songs?

      http://www.houseofscotland.org/waulking.html

      http://www.amidonmusic.com/online-choral-store/146-waulking-song

      Reply
      • Laura Brown says

        July 28, 2015 at 12:09 pm

        I don’t know how that moderation thing got in there.

        Reply
        • L. L. Barkat says

          July 28, 2015 at 12:43 pm

          More than one link 🙂

          Reply
      • Donna Z Falcone says

        July 28, 2015 at 1:07 pm

        Laura, that’s really neat. I didn’t know about waulking songs… 🙂 Thanks!

        Reply
  3. Donna Z Falcone says

    July 28, 2015 at 7:38 am

    I keep thinking of my silverware drawer – how the forks especially have a tendancy to “disappear” into a black hole in the middle of our house. There must be a shanty in that… HA! I might let that one stew for a bit. LOL!

    Reply
  4. Donna Z Falcone says

    July 28, 2015 at 11:51 am

    To the tune of Yo Ho Blow the Man Down:

    YO, MOM, IT WASN’T ME!

    Yo, somebody took
    all the forks from the drawer!

    Yo, Mom, it wasn’t me!

    The last set I bought made
    the count 24!

    Yo, Mom, it wasn’t me!

    Don’t make me come up there!
    Just bring them down, mate!

    Yo, Mom, It wasn’t me!

    And bring me the coffee cups,
    bowls, every plate!

    Yo, Mom it wasn’t me!

    I’m hearing the sounds of
    clank clinkety clack

    Yo, Mom, it wasn’t me!

    He’s carrying most of
    my kitchen in fact.

    Yo, Mom, it wasn’t me!

    His brother, he claims,
    by the light of the moon.

    Yo, Mom, it wasn’t me!

    Scattered the bounty
    All over his room!

    Yo Mom, it wasn’t me!

    Reply
    • Donna Z Falcone says

      July 28, 2015 at 11:53 am

      BA ha ha ha ha… okay, I embellished, but it was just too much fun not to! 😉

      Reply
      • Sandra Heska King says

        July 28, 2015 at 1:08 pm

        LOL! “It Wasn’t Me” lives in our house, too.

        Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      July 28, 2015 at 12:06 pm

      Donna, this was very imaginative and funny !

      Reply
      • Donna Z Falcone says

        July 28, 2015 at 12:29 pm

        Thanks, Richard! Sadly, it’s not as much from my imagination as one would hope. 😉

        Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      July 30, 2015 at 9:57 am

      Clever! I have a similar problem with silverware. Twelve knives, forks, and 6 spoons… Why? WHY?!

      Reply
  5. Rick Maxson says

    July 28, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    I love this prompt and the shanties, but I had a hard time with it. Nevertheless here goes:

    A Poet’s Ship of Tools

    Ah ! the green hillside, it gets me inspired—
    I think while I’m workin’ and I’m not even tired.

    Write the words down, what you write the words in !
    The minds like an ocean, the world’s full of din !

    I talk with my lady and she gives me ideas
    she purrs in couplets with onomatopoeia.

    Follow the syllable sound to the source !
    Don’t take it for granted; never make it feel forced !

    I’ve been the world over and mostly it’s grand,
    but here in the mountains I’ll make my last stand.

    Aye ! the poems they will follow from the sea to the land !
    Write ‘em with keys or write ‘em by hand !

    The lines break like waves, though, they’re never the same;
    times they tell me to stop, times they’re a beast to be tamed.

    Write the words down, from the hills from the sea !
    It’s a tough row to hoe, being both bound and free !

    Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      July 28, 2015 at 12:13 pm

      Every second couplet should be indented, but I wasn’t sure   would work here for a space.

      Reply
      • Rick Maxson says

        July 28, 2015 at 12:15 pm

        Does   even show up?

        Reply
      • Donna Z Falcone says

        July 28, 2015 at 12:32 pm

        Richard…. I like it! I was going to say that this was my favorite line:

        “Aye ! the poems they will follow from the sea to the land !
        Write ‘em with keys or write ‘em by hand !”

        but that was before I got to the end!
        It’s a tough row to hoe being both bound and free! Oh wow…that’s really good!

        Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      July 30, 2015 at 10:05 am

      I think you’ve captured the sea shanty quite well! “…being both bound and free!” resonates with writers and sailors alike.

      Reply
  6. Donna Z Falcone says

    July 28, 2015 at 1:01 pm

    Of course, I can’t think of sea shanties without thinking of Penny Blossoms – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDDdZ1VzoxQ

    Reply
  7. Sandra Heska King says

    July 28, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    “It’s a tough row to hoe, being both bound and free.” –> My favorite line.

    Reply
  8. Sandra Heska King says

    July 28, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Well, I’ve been inside ice shanties, and my great-grandfather was a shanty boy, but I’d never heard of this kind of shanty…

    Reply

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  1. Circus & Carnival: Playlist and Prompt - says:
    August 3, 2015 at 8:01 am

    […] to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. We enjoyed Donna’s rousing (and exasperated) mom-inspired […]

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