A Verbal Fig Leaf · Track 12 · middle
Board a Land Carrack
Board a Land Carrack (1600s) — Naval boarding action, conducted on dry land, by one man. VOLUME: II. THE COINERS, 1600–1699. THE DODGE THIS ERA: The dodge became SPORT. Urquhart translating Rabelais invented dozens in an afternoon; nobody was hiding anything, they were competing. The richest century on the list, and the most useless for actually concealing meaning. Sing the AVOIDANCE, never the anatomy.
No audio yet — generation pending.
Lyrics
The folio is open, the margin is bright. A blunt little word from the Paris side Demands to be ferried across the page. I could write it out plain, like a man of my age. My pulse beats the measure before the ink drops— I won't use the gutter, I'll build him a dock. We board a land carrack, we throw up the line! No water beneath her, just timber and wine. Let the tavern-men whisper of ordinary trades, I am rigging a galleon in silks and brocades. Why settle for earth when the lexicon swells? We are hoisting the colors, we're ringing the bells. My rival in London would give him a skiff, A quick little scramble, a nod and a shift. I spend a whole dram of the iron gall To give him a mainmast, a deck, and a squall. There is nothing to hide from the magistrate's men, The only real limit is the point of the pen. We board a land carrack, we throw up the line! No water beneath her, just timber and wine. Let the tavern-men whisper of ordinary trades, I am rigging a galleon in silks and brocades. Why settle for earth when the lexicon swells? We are hoisting the colors, we're ringing the bells. She lists in the parlor, heavy with prize. I measure her tonnage, I flatter her size. The French had a syllable, sharp as a knife— I give it a rudder, a captain, a life. A whole afternoon for a two-second climb. The ink is drying. The sails are set. The floorboards are creaking... There isn't a net. Just a man and a lexicon, taking the strain. I could have just knocked... But we conquered Spain.