Shipwreck Poem by Cicely Fox Smith

'She struck one night on a sunken ledge
Off the Scillies, homeward bound,
Four months out for the Surrey Docks
With deals from Puget Sound;
Her back was broke, she couldn't live,
As any man might see,
An' it's 'ard to see a good ship go
The way she went,' said he.

'An' I lost my oilskins an' sea boots,
An' all my bloomin' gear,
An' my chest with fancy shackles on
I'd 'ad this many a year;
There warn't no time to think o' them,
Lord know, in such a sea,
But &mdash it's 'ard to lose your chest an' gear
The way we done,' said he.

'An' better ships then 'er maybe
I'll sign in yet, my son,
An' chest an' gear I'll get again
As good as them that's gone:
But never a chap in all the world
Like him that's drowned an' dead,
An' it's 'ard to lose a man's best pal
The way I done,' he said.