Elegy

“So the Ol’ Man’s gone,” said Bill - “ol’ Cap’n Warren I signed with onst in the clipper Rathlin Head; ‘E give up the sea after they sold ‘is ship foreign. An’ he lived to be eighty-odd, an’ now ‘e’s dead. ‘E was an ‘ard ol’ case, a tough ol’ terror, w’en you felt ‘is fist it was like a kick from an ‘orse; but one thing I’ll tell you, an’ no fatal error: ‘E was a grand seaman as ever set a course. An ‘ard-‘ittin’, ‘ard-livin’, ‘ard-swearin’ ol’ sinner - That was ‘im,” said Bill. And struck his palm on the bar; “But nobody never passed ‘is ship while ‘e was in ‘er, An’ ‘e drove ‘er for twenty years an’ never lost a spar. ‘E was a tough ol’ nut an ‘ard ol’ devil as ever walked the weather side of a poop,” Bill said, “A cross-grained ol’ cuss as didn’t know ‘ow to be civil Either to God or man - an’ I’m kind o’ sorry ‘e’s dead.”