The Sea-Serpent

"I've a story to tell -- I don't say that it's true--
But just as I heard it I tell it to you.
A ship there was sailing upon the blue sea
With her canvas all set, when the captain, said he
"I feel that the vessel is all of a tremble,
A sort of sea earthquake it seems to resemble;
Send forward the mate to see what is the matter."
When lo! what he saw would have made your teeth shatter,
An enormous big snake rising out of the sea,
Some three hundred feet long it might possibly be,
And in bulk it might equal a "wide crinoline"
(At least seven yards round that description must mean).
With jaws eight feet long, and with eyes fiercely glaring,
A horn and a mane; he looked horribly daring,
While the bowsprit he shook in his terrible mouth.
'T was in Latitude east and in Longitude south,
This is somewhat obscure, but I think on the whole
It occurred th' other side of the Antarctic pole,
The ship making six knots -- leaving foam in her wake,
Yet she stopped at the touch of this wonderful snake;
And the Jibboom and bowsprit were snapped like a straw;
But his strength was outdone by his marvellous maw;
For he swallowed the stay-sail and also the jib,
Like a boy gulping oysters -- they went down to glib.
With his stay to his stomach he turned him about,
And gave with his tail such a vigorous flout,
That some timbers to atoms were crushed by the blow,
And what more might have happened we none of us know,
When an object appeared for the which he set sail,
And both object and story were much like a whale."

This poem was written by Mr. George Guyon, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. It wasn't titled, so we gave it one.