Jealousy

The Yarn of the Nancy Bell
By: Sir William Schwenck Gilbert


"O, elderly man, it's little I know
Of the duties of men of the sea,
But I'll eat my hand if I understand
How you can possibly be..."


This is a classic-in the truest meaning of the word...  It was written in 1866 and I am sure that there are stories out there where this sort of scenario actually happened...  I just wanna be able to write in this style - I think it sounds so awesome, but it confuses me and I fail miserably. 

But in a way you can see what is going on - the man gets caught in a ship wreck after his ship hits a reef and sinks.  It creates good imagery for me... maybe I am just crazy or something but ever since I had to memorize this in fifth grade it's always been in the back of my mind and it's cool.  Even though it talks about cannibalism-(eww) that's what he had to do to survive... and to me, it supports the image of this crazy sailor man who is old and worn out and still traumatized by his experiences at sea, and all messed up from the events that took place-it's really clear what the author is trying to get across but it can be taken in many different ways.  It is kind of tricky to memorize because of the writing style and sometimes it is confusing but it's good work and really old!!!  I like it, and it has been passed down in  my family for a long time so it's special (:  I like it, hopefully you do too!