Poems (Strong)/Nonsense Verses; Limericks

by Laura Coster Strong

NONSENSE VERSES LIMERICKS upon the Purchase of the 'Alice' Marblehead, August, 1901

There was a young man at the 'Neck,'And he wanted to own his own deck,    For he said, "I've a tub    And that is the rub,"And he scorned the fine 'Grant' of the 'Neck.'

There was a young man bold and freeSaid, "No custom-house laws are for me.    If they want to enmesh    I'll be equally fresh,And I'll gayly prance over the sea."

There was a young man very brightAnd he wanted so much to do right    That he told all his biz    To the powers that is,And thereon his boat was locked tight.

There was a young man sailed the main,And he said, "Why are you in pain?    It's no use to be scared    For I never yet daredTo play tricks when the sea raises Cain."

Said a man, "If I had greater room, kinMy boat be supplied with a boomkin?    And a well-ordered mess    That never grows lessOf Kennedy crackers and poomkin?"

Said a man as he got out abaft her,"My boat is the scene of much laughter,    For I tie to the spot    Where the storm strikes the yacht,And that is the pleasure we're after."

THREE LIMERICKS EXTEMPORIZED SEPT. 2, 1901,on first going aboard the 'Alice'

There was a young man who said, "Lo,I will sail all my boats in a row.     If you don't own a fleet,    You must take a back seat,And I'll be the boss of the show."

Said a man with a face full of woe,"There's a riddle I want much to know;    How is it that I'm    To sail five boats at a time?And that is what's troubling me so."

Said a man, "If my boat had a jiggerI could cut a most elegant figger;    I'd sail forward and back    Without making a tack,And I'd feel about twenty times bigger."