John Masefield

Hell's Pavement

"When I'm discharged at Liverpool 'n' draws my bit o' pay,
I won't come to sea no more;
I'll court a pretty little lass 'n' have a weddin' day,
'N' settle somewhere down shore;

Davy Jones

Sailor slang for death at sea—the ocean floor is "Davy Jones's locker." Billy's swearing off the sea means swearing off dying young.

I'll never fare to sea again a-temptin' Davy Jones,
A-hearkening to the cruel sharks a-hungerin' for my bones;
I'll run a blushin' dairy-farm or go a-crackin' stones,
Or buy 'n' keep a little liquor-store."
::::::::::So he said.
They towed her in to Liverpool, we made the hooker fast,
And the copper-bound official paid the crew,

copper-bound official

The ship's paymaster, called "copper-bound" because he's bureaucratic and rigid—or because he handles copper coins. Either way, he's just doing paperwork while Billy's about to blow his wages.

And Billy drew his money, but the money didn't last,

painted the alongshore blue

Sailor slang for a drinking binge in port. "Alongshore" means the waterfront bars and brothels. Blue = drunk, profane, or both.

For he painted the alongshore blue,
It was rum for Poll, and rum for Nan, and gin for Jolly Jack;
He shipped a week later in the clothes upon his back;
He had to pinch a little straw, he had to beg a sack
To sleep on, when his watch was through,
::::::::::So he did.

So he did

The refrain switches from his promises ("So he said") to reality ("So he did"). The poem's whole structure is promise vs. outcome.

Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

The Sailor's Cycle

Masefield spent years at sea before becoming a poet, and this poem captures the trap he saw firsthand: sailors who swore off the sea but always came back. Billy's fantasy is absurdly specific—dairy-farm or crackin' stones or liquor-store—because he's thought about this a thousand times during night watches. The more detailed the plan, the less likely it'll happen.

The phrase "draws my bit o' pay" is doing work. "Bit" suggests it's not much—merchant sailors were notoriously underpaid—and the casual tone hides desperation. Billy needs this money to last, but the poem knows he's already spent it in his head on rum.

"Temptin' Davy Jones" and "cruel sharks a-hungerin' for my bones" aren't poetic exaggeration. Masefield sailed on ships where men died—fell from rigging, washed overboard, died of disease. Billy's fear is rational. The question is whether fear is enough to change him.

What the Refrain Does

The first stanza ends "So he said." The second ends "So he did." That shift is the whole poem. Said/did. Promise/reality. The double colons (::::::::::) force you to pause before the refrain—like the poem itself is sighing.

Billy doesn't just spend his money. He "painted the alongshore blue"—meaning he went on a bender so epic it became a story. "Rum for Poll, and rum for Nan, and gin for Jolly Jack"—he's buying rounds for the whole waterfront. This isn't weakness; it's what makes shore leave worth surviving for. The sea is brutal. The bar is where you're human again.

By the end, Billy's back on a ship with nothing. "He had to pinch a little straw, he had to beg a sack / To sleep on"—he's literally sleeping on borrowed straw because he spent everything. But notice: he "shipped a week later." Not months. A week. The sea takes him back almost immediately, and the poem doesn't moralize about it. It just watches it happen, the way Masefield watched it happen to men he sailed with.