The intent of this thread is to spotlight some of the sailor-poets who achieved some measure of recognition for their nautical verse in the pre-World War 2 years of the 20th century. "Sailor-Poets" were those who actually worked aboard the commercial tall-ships in the last years of the glorious age of sail or in the navy, and composed poetry. Cicely Fox Smith, while composing well-crafted nautical verse, by this definition was not a sailor-poet. Three relatively unknown American sailor-poets who come to mind are Harry Kemp, Burt Franklin Jenness, and Bill Adams. There are undoubtedly more but my plan is to begin with these three.

Harry Kemp was introduced by Q in this thread with his poem "The Chantey of the Cook": Harry Kemp

Burt Franklin Jenness surfaced on Mudcat, thanks to Gazza2, more recently with his poem "The Sea Dog": Burt Franklin Jenness

Bill Adams's nautical poetry, as far as I can find, has not surfaced on Mudcat but here is a good example:

By Bill Adams, from FENCELESS MEADOWS: Tales of the Sea , edited by Bill Adams, published by Frederick A. Stokes & Co., © 1921, pp. 134-136. Republished in SONGS OF THE SEA AND SAILORS' CHANTEYS, edited by Robert Frothingham, published by Houghton Mifflin Co., Cambridge, US, © 1924, pp. 13-15.

I've Been Dreamin'

I've been dreamin',
Of a randy, dandy clipper with her tops'ls set,
Pitchin' heavy down the westin' with the leeches wet.
Bill Newland, the old skipper, from his high bridge head,
Shoutin' to us packet rats – an' these the words he said:
"Hop along, now! Loose them 'gallants! Skip aloft, now! Jump along!"

Oh, them packet rats were swearin' an' a-breakin' into song!
Packet rats a-roarin', "Ranzo," rats a-singin' "Roll an' Go,"
Haulin' on them 'gallant braces, cryin', "Blow, boys blow!"

    Let her blow for Frisco city!
    Let the dandy clipper race!
    For them swingin' feet an' pretty
    Of the gals at Tony's place.

    Soon we'll see old Tony smilin',
    Hear his girls begin to sing,
    Hear old Billy Dick beguilin'
    Music from a fiddle-string!

    Oh, there's drowned an' perished clippers
    An' there's rats that died –
    But there's gals wi' flowered slippers
    An' their skirts flung wide!

Did you say there are no clippers? Did you say them days is done?
Days of packet rats an' packets, an' stars an' moon an' sun?
O' lights upon the water, a-shinin' on the sea?
My God, but I'm a packet rat!
What will become of me?

I've got to see tall clippers, I've got to sing an' shout
When the 'gallants are mastheaded and the jibs are runnin' out.
I've got to roar "Ranzo" an' "Blow, my bullies, blow!"
When the ice-cakes heap a-cracklin', an' the Horn is lost in snow.
I wants them lights by Frisco, an' lights by Salem too,
An' dandy skippers swearin' at the signin' of the crew.
Red Jacket's gone? And Dancing Wave? Guidin' Star as well?
Then what of Golden Era? . . . God help me! This is hell!

Good-by, farewell, kedge anchor! The shoals lie deep about;
The packet rats are singin', an' their chorus dyin' out.
The clippers lie a-wastin' where the westin' sun burns red,
An' the packet rats are restin' in the havens of the dead.

Good-be to Dame Romancing an' her dainty feathered frock!
Good-by to all the laughter at the swingin' of the lock!
Good-by to capstan payments, good-by to ships at sea –
If the packets rest a-westin' – ah – westin's right for me!

So far I haven't been able to find much biographical information on Bill Adams other than he was a tall-ship sailor who retired to California and published several books of the sea including:

FENCELESS MEADOWS: Tales of the Sea (p. 1921)
WIND IN THE TOPSAILS (p. 1931)

Note that WIND IN THE TOPSAILS includes most of the poems that are used to introduce stories in FENCELESS MEADOWS.

I also haven't been able to find any reference to "Tony's" or "Dame Romancing" in my books about San Francisco's sailortown known as the Barbary Coast.

I would welcome in this thread more information about these sailor-poets, and more of their poems (with references of where you found them). I would expect that at least some of their work could be adapted for singing.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

This is an edited PermaThread®. This thread will be edited by Charley Noble. Feel free to post to this thread, but remember that all messages posted here are subject to editing or deletion.
-Joe Offer-