GREEN ESCAPE 207 GREEN ESCAPE At three o'clock in the afternoon I began to dream of a highland stream Of the swashing dip of a clipper ship And the swirling green and milk-foam clean I heard the quick staccato click Of the typist's pounding keys, And I had to brood of a wind more rude On a beach of sun-blanched sand. There is no desk shall tame my lust My secret hope of the sea's blue slope And though I print no echoed hint My eyes still pine for the comely line When I elope with an autumn day Who have more docile souls; For forest aisles and office files Have a very different shape, In a row of pigeon holes! Christopher Morley "DRINK TO THE MEN WHO HAVE GONE ASHORE" The Skipper and Chief have gone ashore So I'll tell you a tale of Singapore, The Second Mate's guitar will twang While Geordie Muir o' Cambuslang Will gi' ye a Hielan fling: O drink to the men who have Gone Ashore rum-tum. Half a dozen men on the Mess Room floor, Six good men on the Mess Room floor, Yo ho for a bottle o' rum! I told the tale of Singapore And they laughed till the tears ran down, Then Geordie Muir, who'd been to Japan, Of a little brown woman and a big brown man THE ISLE OF OTHERIE O drink to the men who have Gone Ashore 209 Half a dozen men on the Mess Room floor, William Mc Fee THE ISLE OF OTHERIE It was an ancient sailor man who told the tale to me, A bearded, ear-ringed mariner, who sunned him on the quay Beside the white-sailed Flying Cloud, the ship of Faerie. "Oh, maids are sweet in Dunedin, and loving in Bombay, But all of them are nowt to me, for all the night and day I hear my little mermaid's song and dare not turn away! "It was upon a summer morn, upon the Indian sea, The captain called me aft to him, and said to me, says he, 'We'll heave to by that island, the Isle of Otherie. "You'll take the longboat and the casks and seek fresh water, son; We'll let the crew e'en stretch their legs and have a little fun; The nags are full of beans, and we'll just let the rascals run!' "So when we came to Otherie we backed a topsail then; I left the captain, cook and boy, and took my jolly men, I tell you, it was good to set our feet on earth again! "Some climbed the trees and flung down nuts for sport upon their pals, Some turned right in and slept like dogs, with waking intervals, And some few grouched and cursed because they couldn't see no gals. “We filled our casks with water, and then I took a walk. I like to go a-swimming where there are none to gawk; But turning 'round a corner, I came upon a rock. "There sat a youthful mermaid, all pink and white and neat! Her riggin' — what there was of it! incomplete. was rayther She wore her own bright hair, my lad, and smiled upon me sweet. "I stood like one dumfoundered until she smiled at me. THE ISLE OF OTHERIE 211 She says, 'My merry sailor-boy!' and stretched a hand so free. So down I plumps to hear her sing, all by the tropic sea. "She combed and brushed her golden hair and sang most sweetly there, I sat alongside worshipful - we were a happy pair! Till of a sudden from the ship I heard a wrathful blare. "Ahoy, there, men!' the captain cried, "You've had your run ashore!' I sat like one possessed, for from the sea there came a roar, And, rising from the foam, I saw what haunts me evermore! "It was my mermaid's mother, and furious was she! She scolded darling daughter, and her language it was free, But daughter laughed and bade her hush, and leaped into the sea. "Before she leaped, I caught at her and kissed her on the cheek. She was quite plump and soft to touch, but had a fishy reek. But never mortal maiden's lips were half so fair to seek! |