The Omen

This is part l of the most challenging challenge by Nam. Write a 5000 word epic poem. I don't know if my poem fits the definition of epic poem. The first part is in iambic pentameter ( with a few small exceptions, and 4-line stanzas all rhyming. A ballad form) Part 2 of this story is much more lyrical to break the monotony of the first. I will post part 2 in a few days The Omen -  Part I There is no man can spin a yarn like me For stories dangle from my family tree My father passed the treasures on to me And I could tell them all by age of three Come gather round my table, all of you! Prepare your hearts for things you never knew For I will tell a story that is true About the men who sail upon the blue This will not be about old Moby Dick But in the time it takes to burn this wick I will repeat a tale that flames would lick In misty breeze from out the foggy thick A story that will captivate your eyes For Moby Dick was fiction in disguise But everybody here will soon surmise I tell the truth with no embellished lies “Then it’s about a whale!” a young boy said As sure as this here flame is yellow red The little lad gazed in my eyes and read The story that is reeling in my head In days gone by, a whale without a name Had earned himself a bit of local fame For in my mind, a hero he became And when you hear this tale, you’ll think the same The story’s ‘bout the ghost of Captain Grey Who stayed a while but disappeared one day The words that I was just about to say Is that we all have dues we’ve got to pay “But what about the ghost of Captain Grey? Was his own life the dues he had to pay?” No, no, my son, his labors of the day Weighed heavy on his heart as he would pray ‘Twas not far from this tavern that he stood A apparition every morning would Stand watch o’er one named Anna built of wood But never fear, this ghostly soul was good They gathered closer, lending sharper ear So through the howling wind they still could hear A tale that has been told from year to year A legend that all sailing men hold dear I promise you, you’ll n’er forget the name A ghost of local legend and of fame In his own day this Captain Grey became The best who ever played the whaling game For by the time this burning wick is gone You will have heard before the breaking dawn A tale of truth that pondering will spawn And to my story every ear was drawn “How do you know it’s true?”, the lad broke in I know it for the captain was my kin For I am fourth in lineage from him His wide eyes sparkled in the candle’s dim The tale begins in eighteen forty-two Each seaman on the next day’s whaling crew Would come to hear a preacher’s words they knew Would bless them in tomorrow’s early dew The chapel stands just as it did before And he who passes through the chapel door Can hear the stories of the whalers’ lore And voices of the past from wooden fore From pulpit ship he preached in scrimshaw days And belted out a prayer of hope and praise The seamen clung to every fervid phrase Then left New Bedford’s dock in morning haze A seaman’s ritual to sooth the heart That whaling men so rigidly took part And listened to a man of God impart A blessing on the eve they would depart Some of these sailing men of whaling ships Had vulgar tongues and foulness from their lips A sharpened blade hung tightly at their hips Both words and knife could slice in gashing rips Not all the crew were Massachusetts bred From islands far away their hearts were led To wander to a place where mouths were fed Across a sea of hope their families fled To harbor of new Bedford many came With Portuguese their language and their name The bulk of them on fishing boats were trained And skillful whaler’s readily became ********** Before I tell this story, let me say There were twin brothers by the name of Grey The first of them, a shipbuilder by trade Produced the finest schooners ever made His name was Charles; Anna was his bride He toiled with magic hands of skill and pride And earned his wage with thoughts of her inside His love more powerful than wild spring tide His brother Robert, more than just a twin It seems they had the selfsame soul within A captain loved by all who followed him Two gentle souls who came from well bred kin The boy announced ,”The captain was the ghost!” As laughter broke the silence of the host Who chuckled at the child being most Intent to hear the tale I had to boast That’s right , my lad, I’m glad you listen well To all the things that I’m about to tell For from this day forever more will dwell A blue whale’s eye within your spirit’s well There was a schooner docked beside the pier The former captain’s ghost would linger near Though not a soul on board the ship had fear Of him, a friend and hero they held dear A whaling vessel, schooner sailed with pride The letters “Anna” painted on her side Named for the builder’s young and lovely bride By one who held her dearly as she died But Anna was a schooner strong and tough On many a whaling trip she showed her stuff No storm nor wind was ever strong enoough Nor force of tides nor churning waves too tough To turn this beauty from an even keel And many of her crew could somehow feel That Anna had a knack to lure and reel The whales that followed in her golden heel The ghost who watched had sailed her in his day But tragedy befell the Captain Grey And he appeared unto that very day To watch his Anna docked beside the bay Among the crew one cold and misty night There was a lad whose dreams would soon take flight He mustered up the courage and the might And squelched the dangers of a seaman’s plight He was of purest English blood by name From land of kings and queens his father came A man of noble honor, never shame Who treated every man on earth the same ‘Twas Captain Grey, a seaman to the core Who’s brother christened Anna years before The son, a whaler’s life would now endure As father’s ghost stood helpless on the shore “The son of Captain Grey, was he afraid Because of all the dues his father paid?” You’re way ahead of me, I lightly played As lad’s imagination went astray Then laughter of my audience consumed The fear I had instilled into the room As this old tale was just about to bloom My monologue of eloquence resumed ********** It was the eve of his first bounty search The lad strolled out of Seaman’s Bethel Church And there before him saw a raven perch A haunting omen on a limb of birch The young man took no heed to such a bird A black winged creature with no spoken word His beady eyes were songs that went unheard For by a preacher’s faith his soul was stirred No one could now deter this sea-bound youth Son of a whaler, seeking trophy tooth His father always said the bitter truth Would be discovered in the prime of youth He rode the waves when just a little lad Though not a whaling venture to be had For it was not the wishes of his dad That Billy in a whaler’s garb be clad Adventure was the only thing that drew The boy to join a schooner’s whaling crew Though in his heart this was a trade he knew His father did not want him to pursue The crewmen loyal to their commandeer Stayed on the Anna for another year But Captain Dry’s demeanor couldn’t come near To Billy’s dad, whom every one revered Before dawn, Billy headed for the dock The secrets of the sea he would unlock On this, a fateful voyage, when death would knock As raven watched atop a jagged rock He tred the misty pathway by the bay Through thick of  fog before the light of day His dreams of glory lighting up the way That yellow raven eyes could ne’er betray A spirit stood and watched young Billy board The ship that won him many an award Now father’s words were blatently ignored And mother’s grief her heart could ill afford Young Billy knew that schooner stem to stern The Captain said, “Your wage you gotta earn The first time out a whaler’s life you’ll learn And working with this crew, your first concern They were a mixed lot, anyone could tell Some from Cape Verde, some right out out of hell But each one did his job and did it well And Billy Boy, he held them in his spell An image of his father, they all said A favorite whaling captain now was dead But they could see the lad was schooner bred And by his father’s wisdom he was led They loved that Captain Grey, and all agreed To humble birth he gave no mind or heed He treated with respect each seaman’s need And they ,in turn, had served him well indeed ********** The ship slipped out of port with fog alift The breeze was fair and Anna’s sails were swift Past Clark’s Point Light , the magic beacon gift That once saved Anna from the rocky rift Lit by the oil processed from a whale The golden oil that set this ship asail Upon a voyage they knew would never fail A ship the crew had dubbed, “The Holy Grail” The breezes of the sea were grand that day And swiftly did the ship get under way The Captain stood and faced the heav’ns to pray “May God have mercy on our souls today” They sailed smooth waters under cloudless sky Such easy sailing for old Captain Dry Unlike their Captain Grey, no one denied But all obeyed, respecting one who died Young Billy Boy had whaling in his vein And would add honor to his father’s name And so he set out on this search for fame But never would his spirit be the same He knew his place among the weathered crew Who’d teach him many things he never knew The body of the boy soon got it’s due With brutal toil known only to a few Young Billy never really had to ask How to manouver ropes within his grasp For he had helped to rig the wooden mast His Uncle Charles teaching him the task Though winds were steady, muscles felt the pain ‘Of endless toil for which he wasn’t trained But so as not to show the least bit shame He watched the others, then he did the same The captain’s footsteps paced the Anna’s deck His eyes glues to the rolling crimson crest That glowed like rubies in his treasure chest He and the watchman facing toward the west They eyed the sea like hawks above their prey Awaiting mystic fountain’s misty spray All knowing Anna never would betray The soul who stood and watched beside the bay The second day then passed and then the third A watchman’s voice was never to be heard Announcing whales with those most sacred words That sometimes for a month would be deterred ********** Four days a'sail and nothing came in sight Then in the middle of the darkest night The Captain had a sense of dooming fright “There's something in the air that isn’t  right” No sooner said , the sea began to churn "We've not a single moment left to burn!" The waves were wildly crashing on the stern And Billy's heart was full of seaman's yearn A wall of water one of them had spied “A rogue wave’s what she be!” the Captain cried “There’s not a placee a whaling ship can hide In such a devil wave we all will die” "Let’s put this ship in irons, douse her sails! Head staight into the eye of the wind and gale!" The schooner pitched the wave and did not fail With crew controlling helm and tethered sail But some were thrown into the ocean's cold By force of waves above the bulkward's hold The ship was yawing. All those strong and bold Couldn't turn about the whaling ship of gold The Captain said, “A ship you’ll never find Could fight the power of this salty brine God lifted up the Anna just in time!” But now they faced the waves that came behind “Secure the boom, young lad”, the Captain cried But Billy Boy was stunned by what he spied A huge blue whale abrest the starboard side Was staring at young Billy eye to eye The creature kept the whaling ship adrift In giant wave the schooner was alift Upon a monster crest of ocean rift Saved only by an unknown creature’s gift “A whale!, A whale!", cried son of schooner's fame The Captain shouted, "Make yourself a name! Harpoon him, lad!, Harpoon him from the main! Just this one whale, and we'll head home again!" "No! No!, my Captain, look how he behaves He’s keeping us from rolling with the waves He is a friend, I say, let him be saved Or "Anna", here, will send us to our graves!” "This whale, my boy, will be our certain doom It's either he or us to be consumed Now hold on boy and pitch that old harpoon And you will sup next week with silver spoon” “Look at him closely, lad. Look at his size! Sweet Anna will take home a golden prize! We’ll carry home our barrels of surprize For I see lamp oil in the monster’s eyes” “This whale, my boy, will soon be burning bright In every home within New Bedford’s sight And all will praise the glory and the might Of Anna’s strength this dark and trecherous night” "Take up the harpoon, boy, the whale is near And doesn’t sense the danger or the fear An easy target for a whaler’s spear You’ll never have this chance in many a year” Young Billy raised and held the harpoon high And looked into the depths of mammal’s eye But could not bear the anguished hurt inside And dropped the weapon by the Captain’s side “Was he a coward, then?”, the young boy asked “Was he afraid to do a whaler’s task?” I told him all the courage he could grasp Would make the family’s legacy  still last In blue whale’s eyes he saw his father’s face And so beside the captain he had placed The symbol that his dad tried to erase And Billy stood in honor and in grace “How dare you not obey a Captain’s lip! Why did you come aboard this whaling ship? If you have not the courage now to grip The sword of death that through his skin will slip” ‘Tis I, young man, who’ll teach you how to throw. Your father’s glory you will never know.” And as he raised his arms to deal the blow The whale sank to the calmer depths below He disappeared and Anna overturned The few on board fell in the icy churn The harpoon followed swiftly from the stern And Captain had a whaler’s table turned The harpoon speared the Captain to his death A black eye watched him take his final breath The whale then took him to the ocean’s depth And knew that now no enemy was left The lad who listened got a sudden chill “Was that the day that Billy Boy was killed?” Be calm, my son, sit quietly and still The ending I will tell, I surely will The candle’s flaming wick is almost burned The story’s ending all of you have earned But let’s go back to where the waters churned And you will hear a lesson duly learned Young Billy Boy was fighting icy wave And surely would have sunk into his grave Had he not been so noble and so brave Defying Captain’s words, a whale to save Until this day thay tell the fateful tale of Anna’s disappearance in a gale And Billy who was pushed atop a bale And pulled to safety by a monster whale In Seaman’s Bethel Church still William prayed Remembering the dues that he had paid And raven eyes attempting to pursuade The boy from following the whaler’s way For all was written in a blue whale’s eye The young boy saw the creature dignify His valid worth, his mind, his life, his why That never saw the soul of Captain Dry There is a tale in every candlestick That burns in its own time the candlewick And I have told a tale that flames would lick In misty breeze from out the foggy thick My ghostly tale the taper had consumed As raven, perched atop a rafter, loomed My guests were pondering the Anna’s doom And silence filled the darkness of the room *** End of PartI *** Written March 29th, 2002 © on Mar 29 2002 03:30 AM PST   0 • 1