Homework Jan 25: The Sultan's Gold

[David Campbell]

More of a shanty, this one.

The Sultan’s Gold

Off the coast of South Australia there’s a legend, so I’m told,
of a triple-masted schooner with a cargo full of gold
that was looted from the palace of a Sultan from the East,
who then had it cursed forever by an ancient shaman priest.

But the captain was a pirate who thought superstition mad,
so he laughed at fickle fortune and said only cowards had
any thoughts of being frightened by some silly foreign curse,
for he’d faced the Roaring Forties, and knew nothing could be worse.

So he set a course for Melbourne on the trade winds through the Bight,
with the journey uneventful till one clear and starry night,
when, with phosphorescence shining on the surface of the sea,
he relaxed against the taffrail as if anchored at the quay.

But this moment so beguiling lulled his senses half-asleep,
and he thought he might be dreaming at the changes in the deep,
for the silver altered colour till it glittered just like gold,
and this mesmerising vision was a marvel to behold.

For the captain saw a fortune there beneath him on the waves,
a far greater slice of heaven, as each thieving scoundrel craves,
so he leaned a little further, for it lay just out of reach,
this enticing, wondrous treasure, spread like sand upon the beach.

Then he heard the mermaids singing and the seas began to rise,
till the glitter touched his fingers and he claimed his precious prize,
but the waves crept even higher on that brilliant starlit night,
and the ship slipped underwater bathed in eerie golden light.

Now the sailors tell a story of those midnight hours so still,
when the mermaids sing their love songs to help keep away the chill,
and they see an apparition, like a phantom ship of old,
where a ghostly voice is crying: “You will never take my gold!”

© David Campbell 15/01/15

[Neville Briggs]

Just the thing for Robert Newton to recite , I can hear him doing it

[alongtimegone]

As a child I loved reading about pirates and their buried treasure, ship wrecks and castaways etc. These were popular themes in boy's books of the time. Story books of this genre have gone the way of valve radios. The closest today is captain Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean series and while these are fun movies they lack the innocence of stories from my yesterdays. I'm carrying on here a bit. Really sat down just to say ... great poem David.
Wazza

[Maureen K Clifford]

You would be a good shantyman David - good shantymen were valued and respected — it was a good professional skill to have, along with strong arms and back Great story and marvellously told.

[Heather]

It doesn't pay to be greedy. Great little tale David.

Heather

[Catherine Lee]

Wonderful poem David - really enjoyed reading this!

[David Campbell]

Yes, Neville, Newton it would have to be. He's generally credited with creating the "Arrrr matey!" pirate voice that everyone now uses...the result of playing Long John Silver in several movies and TV shows.

I'm with you there, Warren. One of my favourite books as a kid (I still have it) was Shark Gotch and Typhoon Bradley by Albert Richard Wetjen, a tale of sailing ships, pearling, shootouts, impossible heroes, and dastardly villains, and set in the South Sea islands. Very non-PC in a variety of ways by today's standards, but a rattling good yarn. Wetjen spent time in the Australian outback and was once imprisoned by the Sultan of Zanzibar!

Not so sure about that, Maureen. I can't sing, lack the necessary muscle-power, and have a tendency towards seasickness...

Thanks, Heather and Catherine. A pirate, a Sultan, a curse, gold, mermaids, and a ghost ship...stir the ingredients vigorously and you've got a good old-fashioned legend!

Cheers
David

[Terry]

Yes good one David,

There's something about the sea that lends itself to poetry.

You've just given me an idea for another one - if I can motivate myself to write it.

Terry

[David Campbell]

Go for it, Terry! Don't let a good idea sit idle.

Cheers
David

[Shelley Hansen]

And just a touch of "The Inchcape Rock" creeping in there ... do I dectect??

Love it David!

Cheers, Shelley