Lyr Add: Casabianca: boy stood on the burning deck

Subject: ADD: Casabianca/boy stood on the burning deck ^^
From: wildlone
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 05:15 PM

We have all heard the various verses of this, how many know the true story of:

CASABIANCA
(Felicia Hemans)

The boy stood on the burning deck
  Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the battle's wreck
  Shone round him o'er the dead.

Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
  As born to rule the storm;
A creature of heroic blood,
  A proud, though child-like form.

The flames rolled on -- he would not go
  Without his Father's word;
That father, faint in death below,
  His voice no longer heard.

He called aloud -- 'say, Father, say
  If yet my task is done?'
He knew not that the chieftain lay
  Unconscious of his son.

'Speak, father!' once again he cried,
  'If I may yet be gone!'
And but the booming shots replied,
  And fast the flames rolled on.

Upon his brow he felt their breath,
  And in his waving hair,
And looked from that lone post of death
  In still yet brave despair.

And shouted but once more aloud,
  'My father! must I stay?'
While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud,
  The wreathing fires made way.

They wrapt the ship in splendour wild,
  They caught the flag on high,
And streamed above the gallant child,
  Like banners in the sky.

There came a burst of thunder sound --
   The boy -- oh! where was he?
Ask of the winds that far around
  With fragments strewed the sea! --

With mast, and helm, and pennon fair,
  That well had borne their part --
But the noblest thing which perished there
  Was that young faithful heart.

FELICIA HEMANS (1793-1835)


[Young Casabianca, a boy about thirteen years old, son of the Admiral of l'Orient flagship of the French fleet,(in the Battle of the Nile) remained at his post after the ship had taken fire and all the guns had been abandoned, and perished in the explosion of the vessel, when the flames had reached the powder.]

Battle of the Nile .
Felicia Dorothea Browne Hemans (1793 - 1835) .
^^

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 05:19 PM

And, of course, there's the parody of this, which I only vaguely remember, but it went something like:

The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had fled
Shouting out the battle-cry of freedom
And when his feet were burned away he stood upon his head
Shouting out the battle-cry of freedom
So hurrah for Mary
And hurrah for the lamb
And hurrah for the little boy who didn't give a [chord]

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Bernard
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 05:27 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck
He must have been quite silly.
A spark went up his trouser leg
And burned his little knee.

(Don't know why it doesn't rhyme...!)

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 05:39 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck His legs were all a quiver He gave a cough, his leg fell off And floated down the river.

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: SINSULL
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 05:46 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck
His feet were full of blisters
He tore his trousers on a nail
And now he wears his sister's.

I believe my posting of this earlier this week inspired this thread. I learned the parody from my father before I was ever exposed to the poem in school. Sorry, if I offended you, Wildlone.

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: wildlone
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 05:57 PM

SINSULL, no I am not offended, I am a re-enactor of the life and times of the British Army in the peninsular campiagn and your post struck a chord that it was a real event that was turned into the poem. A search later I turned up this so I thought I would share it.
British version .

French version .

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 06:40 PM

Here's a nice link for you:

http://lycoskids.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0832412.html

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Lanfranc
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 07:03 PM

I always like Spike Milligan's version.

The boy stood on the burning deck, whence all but he had fled - The Twit!

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 07:17 PM

British version...French version...How about an Egyptian version?

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 07:20 PM

Spike also said,

Upon the hill there stood a cow,

It must have moved, it's not there now.

linked, ..maybe

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: GUEST,Trish
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 07:44 PM

My Dad's version: The boy stood on the burning deck His feet were covered in blisters, He hadn't any trousers so He had to borrow his sister's -

and my Dad was in the Royal Navy so he should know!!!!!!

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 08:14 PM

MY dad's version...

"The boy stood on the burning deck,
Eating peanuts by the peck.
The flames rose up and burned his chin,
But still he poked the peanuts in."

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 08:48 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck,
Picking his nose like mad;
He rolled them up in little balls
And threw them at his dad.

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 09:42 PM

Not the versions I know and you can be assured that if your dad was in the navy he knew different words than the ones he told you mate... eg:

The boy stood on the burning deck his arse up to the mast
He dare not move a single inch till bummer Jake had past. etc etc

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 10:05 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck
As he was he was playing cricket
A spark went up his trouser leg
And burnt his middle wicket

Jon

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: GUEST,Wavestar
Date: 16 Sep 00 - 10:36 PM

Is anyone else familiar with a poem (I think it was written by Elizabeth Browning) that has the same first line? It is about the boy, and love... also contains the line, which might be paraphrased, "loves the ____, and (something else) and love's the burning boy."

It's driving me crazy.

-J

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Chocolate Pi
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 01:01 AM

Yeah, but it's Elizabeth Bishop.

Casabianca

Love's the boy stood on the burning deck
trying to recite "The boy stood on
the burning deck." Love's the son
stood stammering elocution
while the poor ship in flames went down.

Love's the obstinate boy, the ship,
even the swimming sailors, who
would like a schoolroom platform, too,
or an excuse to stay
on deck. And love's the burning boy.

-Elizabeth Bishop, 1946


Chocolate Pi (finally back at school and on the 'Cat)

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Micca
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 08:25 AM

Guest, it wasnt Spike Milligan that wrote
"On yonder hill there stands a coo, If its not there its awa' the noo"
I always understood that it was by William McGonagall

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Bernard
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 09:52 AM

Today I saw a little worm A-wriggling on his belly. Perhaps he'd like to come inside And see what's on the telly.

(Genuine Milligan)

Back to the thread:

The leg falling off version is part of the 'She stood on the bridge at midnight' genre!

The boy stood on the burning deck A-gazing at the stars. A hot cinder went up his leg And burned him on his Mars...

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Fiolar
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 10:12 AM

In Ireland we had this version "The Boy stood on the burning deck, His feet were full of blisters. His father stood in the public house, With porter running down his whiskers."

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: CamiSu
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 03:27 PM

Thanks Chocolate Pi!

(This is Wavestar...) I knew it was an Elizabeth B!

-J

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 05:20 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck
When all but he had fled.
A seagull laid a hard-boiled egg
And dropped it on his head.

This was one verse of a comic song on some ancient 3/8ths inch thick Edison records my grandparents had with a wonderful, huge (about 3 foot by two by two, on two-foot legs) phonograph.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: okthen
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 06:11 PM

the boy stood on the burning deck

eating a thrupenny walls

a bit fell down his trouser leg

and paralysed his kneecap

first poem i ever learned, i went to a srange school

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 06:46 PM

now THIS is Folklore, folks...that boy on that deck got around more than Kilroy!...and did more while he was there!

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 17 Sep 00 - 09:34 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck
A-sweltering in the heat.
His eyes were filled with briny sweat
His shoes were filled with feet.

At least, that's the way I heard it.

--Charlie Baum

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: BanjoRay
Date: 18 Sep 00 - 08:15 PM

What we used to chant aged about 8 (around 1950)was

The boy stood on the burning deck
A string of sausages round his neck
He ate the first, he ate the last
And shoved the rest of them up his arse

Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: GUEST,Paddy(1)
Date: 19 Sep 00 - 06:09 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck A pistol in his britches The gun went off, oh what a wreck, The boy got 14 stitches!

Paddy(1)

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Cavia_P
Date: 19 Sep 00 - 06:24 PM

The Boy stoood on the burning deck
Tying crackers on a whale
A spark flew up his trowser leg
and burned him on the tail

Trad. arr. South Hunsley School!

Cavia_P

Subject: Parody: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Jim Krause
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 02:33 PM

From the New Lost City Ramblers, and who knows where they got it? Oh the boy stood on the burning deck His feet were burnt to blisters The flames reached up and burnt his pants So now he wears his sister's CHORUS Oh it ain't gonna rain no more It ain't gonna rain no more So how in the heck will I wash my neck If it ain't gonna rain no more.

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Catrin
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 02:39 PM

'I never felt finer' said the king of China
Sitting down to dine
Then he fell down dead, he died he did,
It was only half past nine

Spike Milligan

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Bluebeard
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 11:06 PM

From the lads in Manchester (circa 1962)

The boy stood on the burning deck, Eating chips and scallops, A spark flew up his trouser leg And synged him on his bollocks.

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 12:19 AM

I harvested the poem for the database. Do you think I should include all the parodies? These are too cool.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Trevor
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 06:22 AM

What a curious thing is the nose It grows and it grows and it grows When you're lying in bed It sticks out of your head At the opposite end to your toes.

Boom Boom

Milligan, I think.

Talking of noses, does anyone remember the monologue the Victor Borge used to do about his conk?

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Peter T.
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 01:16 PM

Thanks for the Elizabeth Bishop poem. yours, Peter T. We need a recitations thread!

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: wildlone
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 01:47 PM

I found this and think it is Worth a look .
Come on any of you poets out there can you do as well

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: okthen
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 02:09 PM

do americans know of Spike Milligan?

he who wrote,

"i must go down to the sea again,the lonely sea and the sky,

i left my vest and socks there, i wonder if they're dry"

milligan deserves a thread of his own.

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: GUEST,John B
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 11:02 AM

People who live in glass houses, should pull the blinds before removing their trousers.

Another Spike Milligan, and yes - he deserves a thread of his own without doubt

John

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Jim Krause
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 04:30 PM

Well, I can't speak for all Americans, but I personally have never heard of Spike Milligan. I think I would in all probability fall off my chair laughing.

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: mousethief
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 04:42 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck
The flames grew all around
He took one look and said, "oh heck!",
Jumped in the sea, and drowned.

Alex
O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Gervase
Date: 23 Sep 00 - 09:32 AM

The boy stood on the burning deck,
His pockets full of crackers.
A spark flew up his trouser leg
And pulverised his knackers

London, early to mid Sixties (Bugger, showing my age!)

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: fox4zero
Date: 24 Sep 00 - 04:45 AM

From a long-gone Australian Dernatology professor:

The boy stood on the burning deck His back was to the mast He would not move a single step Till Oscar Wild had passed.

Larry Parish

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: GUEST,Anon
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 09:35 AM

The boy stood on the burning deck,
His back against the mast.
He said, "I will not budge an inch,
Till Oscar Wild goes past."
Now, Oscar was a cunning chap,
He threw that boy a plum.
But when he went to pick it up,
He kicked him up the bottle of sars!

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: JohnB
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 10:40 AM

The boy stood on the burning deck
his feet dangling in the water
"Longfellow"
JohnB

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: JohnB
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 10:45 AM

This is the crude version that somehow my perverted mind has retained for over 40 years.

The boy stood on the burning deck
his arse against the mast
for fear that the bum-boy
would happen there to pass

the bum-boy was a slimy git
he tossed the boy a kipper
the boy bent down to pick it up
ten inches up his shitter.

JohnB

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Den
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 11:42 AM

The boy stood in the witness box
Picking his nose like fury
He rolled them into little balls
And threw them at the Jury.

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 11:58 AM

Royal Navy (lower deck version)

The boy stood on the burning deck
His arse up to the mast
He dare not move a single inch
till bummer Jake had passed

But bummer Jake was a sly old sod
he threw the lad a fritter
And when he bent down to pick it up
Wham! six inches up his shitter

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: nutty
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 01:25 PM

I learnt this from my dad ...... a Yorkshireman

The boy stood on the burning deck
Selling peas a penny a peck
Did he brek his blooming neck?
Did he heck!

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: MMario
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 01:27 PM

Whereas I learned:

The boy stood on the burning deck
Eating goobers by the peck
Shoving them right down his neck
He'll throw up - that's a bet!

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: Amos
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 02:26 PM

The boy stood on the burning deck,
Because he was afraid.
He could not swim to save his neck,
And that is why he stayed.

-----------------------------------

Anonymous, circa 1958 IIRC :D


A

Subject: RE: The boy stood on the burning deck
From: frogprince
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 06:14 PM

The dog stood on the burning deck;
the flames leaped up around his neck;
          Hot Dog!
To soothe his burning appetite,
He ate a stick of dynamite;
          Doggone!