Yes, it’s a fictitious song not a poem. Deal with it. :) No, I’ve no tune in mind.

The Jolly Pirate Ship

as recorded by Sylvette Lastude in “Selected Folk Songs of Central and Eastern Terrimoire”

Call-response requiring two singers (or teams of singers), A and B, with chorus.

A: I saw a jolly pirate ship
(Sing solid, liquid, gas and sand)
B: And what was on that handsome tub?
(Sing liquid, gas and sand-oh)

A: The holds were filled with figs and limes,
all brought aboard from warmer climes.
It was a quirky pirate tub.
(Sing liquid, gas and sand-oh)

B: I saw a jolly pirate band
(Sing fluid, granule, ground and air)
A: And who was on that dauntless crew?
(Sing granule, ground and air-oh)

B: The crew was golds and goblins all,
adroit and hardy in a squall.
It was a motley pirate crew.
(Sing granule, ground and air-oh)

A: I saw a windblown pirate jack
(Sing vapour, droplet, stuff and gloop)
B: And what was on that flutt’ring flag?
(Sing droplet, stuff and gloop-oh)

A: It showed a smirking vixen red
with striped bandana on her head.
It was a crafty pirate flag.
(Sing droplet, stuff and gloop-oh)

B: I saw a scowling pirate king
(Sing grainies, water, ice and steam)
A: And tell me of this fearsome chief
(Sing water, ice and steam-oh)

B: He had three lemons in his grasp
and velvet cloak with silver clasp.
He was a strange feraisai chief.
(Sing water, ice and steam-oh)

Sylvette Lastude was a gentlesapient scholar in the mould of the more famous and gender-ambiguous Gery Illumin. As with all Lastude’s recordings, of all possible iterations of the song, the version as written is the most likely never to be heard in real life. This is put down in large part to the effect of a pretty, prim and proper feraisai face on the vocabulary of your average young man in a pub.

In practice, the order of the refrains (“Sing fluid, granule, ground and air”) depended entirely on which words the singers in question could remember.

edit: and there are minimal changes to make an Earthling version in the Livejournal mirror comments section.

This was influenced by a whole bunch of things, notably the sailor song from Bagpuss (“They’d comfits in the cabin and apples in the hold…”) but also the fun duet in The Yeomen Of The Guard (“It’s sung to the moon by a lovelorn loon…”), obviously I Saw Three Ships even though I don’t know the words to that, and that crazy-ass pirate metal Snog linked me to.

I don’t know where the nod to The Blessed Damozel crept in, except that the poem has been in the back of Weft’s mind since last week.

This one only took me an hour. Never again the insomnia times!1!1!

edit: Hmm, I forgot I was going to have the first singer go with “jolly” all the way through. Ah well. Pick and mix adjectives as desired, really.