The Poetry Corner

Nursery Rhyme. CCCLXXVII. Paradoxes.

By Unknown

I saw a ship a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea; And, oh! it was all laden With pretty things for thee! There were comfits in the cabin, And apples in the hold; The sails were made of silk, And the masts were made of gold: The four-and-twenty sailors, That stood between the decks, Were four-and-twenty white mice, With chains about their necks. The captain was a duck, With a packet on his back; And when the ship began to move, The captain said, "Quack! quack!"