Knots

“There’s a lot In a knot,” Bill’d say While working away With fingers as hard As the tarred Rough hemp that he’d fashion and splice With handiwork nice And precise Into many a seaman’s device - Turk’s Head, stopper and wall, Mathew Walker and all. “There’s a lot In a knot . . . There’s hitches and bends Good enough for their ends You make shift With and cast ‘em adrift And they’re done . . . There’s others just fancy fal-lals Like the dollied-up gals A man courts In the ports For his fun . . . And there’s some like the one (Or two, if he’s lucky enough!) best pal a man finds in his puff, that’ll hold on and hold till Hell’s cold and beyond . . . There’s a lot In a knot.”