sp09250wlarge

 = "Pirates" by Peter Johnson (1997) =

// William Large //
>>>>>>>> I'm agitated when I read of pirates. Growing up, I >>>>>>>> walked so many planks my feet were a mess of splin- >>>>>>>> ters. Supposedly, very few pirates made prisoners >>>>>>>> walk the plank, more productive putting them to >>>>>>>> work. But my Blackbeards needed that paternal loin-tug >>>>>>>> one derives from the sound of a young, healthy male >>>>>>>> splitting the waves. Continually saved by mermaids, >>>>>>>> waterlogged, I persisted, devoured my share of limes, >>>>>>>> yet unable to please these master mariners, always >>>>>>>> probing my backside with their big swords, always >>>>>>>> more and more examinations: "Subtract the number >>>>>>>> of Ali Baba's thieves from the number of Arabian >>>>>>>> Nights, then add the Voyages of Sinbad. What do you >>>>>>>> get?" Or "Repeat fifty times: 'Making merry maps for >>>>>>>> mighty marooned mariners.'" >>>>>>>> Insatiable they be, and everywhere.

>>>>>>>> Setting | Point of View | Complexity, Ambiguity, & Difficulty >>>>>>>> Considering Canonicity | Biographical Context | Historical and Cultural Contexts >>>>>>>> Theoretical Application | Unifying Interpretation

>>>>>>>> Works Cited and Consulted



Way 1: First Impressions
>> Initially I read this story and saw it at face value in being just a children’s story. It contains fictional characters and children’s tongue twisters. I also imagined this story being told to a group of children as form of entertainment. Without looking at this closer, I would not have categorized this as a poem even.

>> Revisiting this way now I can see the complexity of the figurative language, the use of alliteration, along with form and structure used in its creation. “Pirates” catches the reader’s attention through rhyme and alliteration. The sounds of the consonant “P” really stand out and show a sort of distaste or disdain for the pirates in the first half of the poem. In the second half, the speaker uses rhyme to show, in a light-hearted way, the suffering he endured. It is also interesting to now see how this poem works on several levels at the same time. As a children’s story, it captures the attention of its listeners with its rhyme and alliteration. As a piece of literature, it uses several types of prosody to be worthy of admiration.



Way 2: Engaging with the Text
>> I see the rhythm of this poem to be in a sarcastically condescending tone relative to dealing with pirates. To start off with in the first line the word “agitated” (Johnson), sounds as it means agitated or upset. Now in the next few lines use consonance with the strong “p” sound of words like “pirates” (Johnson 1) and “plank” (Johnson 2) that serve as a strong reminder to pay attention to the story, as if the reader was losing interest and needed prodding. Then half way through, the strong “p” sound diminished slightly with words like “persisted … [and] please” (Johnson 8-9). This change was showing the transition from feelings of anger to feelings of acceptance. The acceptance comes in rhymes in the form of “examinations” (Johnson 11). And finally admitting “[i]nsatiable they be, and everywhere” (Johnson 16).

>> These sounds help me to envision an old pirate sitting on the side of a pier, talking to a group of kids, and telling them this story. You can almost feel the splatter of spit hit you every time the speaker says a word begging with the letter p. The rhythm of “Pirates” almost helps you hear “Arrgh” between the lines as the pirate adjusts his eye patch.

Top of page

Way 3: A Point about Form and Its Relationship to Content
>> “Pirates” by Peter Johnson is a type of “narrative poetry … that tells a story much in the manner of fiction” (Brown and Yarbrough 83). It does not use a strict form like a sonnet, but rather a more open form like free verse, which tends to fit a narrative story more closely. “Pirates” is meant to be read like a story, that has a beginning and an end. Thus the story progresses from sentence to sentence and not stanza-to-stanza. It is the creation of a new paragraph with only one line at the end of the poem that really helps to tie form in with the content. A new paragraph is a sign of a new thought or idea, but here it is used as an ending to the story.



Way 3: Another Point about Form and Its Relationship to Content
>> Another point about the form is the use of alliteration and consonance. To begin with, it uses consonance, or the repetition of similar consonants, early on in the story to stress his agitation. For instance, in “Pirates”, “…pirates made prisoners walk the plank” (Johnson 3-4). In this phrase, you can see not only the repetition of the consonant “p” but also how this letter can emphasize his agitation in this rhyme. There are several places in the poem where the use of alliteration is also used which is another reference to a pirate that agitates him. And he uses alliteration to show how the pirates treated him. Another connection could be made about how this poem reflects the speaker’s childhood. In the first line the speaker specifically mentions “Growing up” (Johnson), which points back to a prior time. Then connecting this with the types of “examinations” (Johnson 11) he is subjected to, is a another form of alliteration using childhood rhymes.

Top of page



Way 4: Unpacking an Instance of Figurative Language (One)
>>  >> __Expert Move #1: Identifying the figurative language__ >> In Peter Johnson’s poem “Pirates”, the narrator tells his readers, “I walked so many planks my feet were a mess of splinters” (1-3). This passage is primarily an example of imagery because of the use of vivid terms. In this line, the reader can clearly see how the splinters in his feet and feel the pain associated with them.

>> When someone mentions the phrase “walk the plank,” you can immediately envision pirates on a ship with a skull and crossbones flag waving out in the middle of the ocean somewhere. To have walk(ed) the plank more than one time is a fun way to think about these events long ago. But now add the fact that a mess of splinters is starting to build up in your feet because of it and you have a situation that sets the tone for the rest of the story.

>> __Expert Move #2: Exploring denotations__ >> There are a few words to explore in this section. First let’s look at the word "walked," (Johnson 2) which literally means to take steps in a manner slower than a run (“walk”). In this poem, this word is used in the same context as the literal meaning. “I walked” (Johnson 1-2) is actually the act of walking on a plank to nowhere on the boat. The next notable term is “feet” (2), which is a part of the body that is in direct contact with the ground when standing or walking. Once again, this term does really refer to the speakers’ feet. The next term, “mess” (Johnson 2) refers to a cluttered or untidy condition. This term is used almost in a slang sense here. I think that it is meant to convey the sheer amount of splinters in his feet that are not in any purposeful pattern. They were here and there and everywhere. Now we finally move on to the final term “splinters” (Johnson 2-3). A splinter is a short, thin, and sharp piece of wood that has become dislodged from its original location (“splinter”). It is these splinters that become lodged in the speaker’s feet as he is walking on these uncared for planks.

>> __Expert Move #3: Unpacking the figurative and connotative meanings__ >> Typically when someone walks the plank, he or she does not return. In this case Johnson explores the poor conditions that exist for those who do walk the plank in a humorous way. I mean why else would people complain about getting splinters while walking the plank, when most likely they won’t live to complain about it. Knowing this, why should the pirates maintain the plank used to escort people off of the ship? Wooden planks in poor shape may be the perfect choice for this situation.

>> Johnson could have chosen to use some other aspect of pirate life, such as the sword fights or battles at sea. But these choices would have not been as easy to show his contempt toward the pirates. This contempt may have come from rough childhood experiences when his parents and/or school teachers were making him do his homework.

>> __Expert Move #4: Re-contextualizing within the whole poem.__ >> These lines about walking the plank add to the light heartedness of the entire poem. The poem begins with the premise on how pirates really agitate the speaker. "Walking the plank" is really the center of all the complaints in this poem, from the splinters in his feet, to having a sword poked in his back, and being made to recite tongue twisters

Top of page



Way 4: Unpacking Another Instance of Figurative Language (Two)
>> __Expert Move #1: Identifying the figurative language__ >> In Peter Johnson’s poem “Pirates” the narrator tells his readers, “Continually saved by mermaids, waterlogged” (7-8). This passage is primarily an example of imagery because of the use of the terms "mermaids … [and] waterlogged" (Johnson 7-8). These terms both relate to the senses in terms of sight and touch. This line helps to explain why the speaker is able to continue walk to more.

>> __Expert Move #2: Exploring denotations__ >> To begin with, let’s look at the term "mermaid" (Johnson 7). A mermaid is a mythical creature that is half human woman and half fish (“mermaid”). Usually this part that is a fish is from the waist down. It is interesting that Johnson choose to use a mermaid in this story because the mermaid has a history, just like walking the plank, of harming sailors rather than helping them. The fact that they are nude from the waist up is typically a way of seducing wayward men. But when the men succumb to this, they quickly find that they cannot live in the mermaid’s environment and drown. The next key point about mermaids is that they are mythical and not real. So this continues to support that this is a work geared toward humoring its readers.

>> The next word is “waterlogged” (Johnson 8) which is used to describe something that is saturated with water such as a tree that has fallen into a lake or river. Sometimes waterlogged is used to describe the feeling of spending too much time in the water. Another choice here could have been to use a word like soggy, but this is not as clear in meaning like the word waterlogged. Soggy also doesn’t have the same verbal impact. It sounds a bit soggy itself.

>> The last term is "saved" (Johnson 7). I believe this term is used to modify the prior two terms because both of them can be dangerous (“save”). The literal meaning of the word save refers to aid in helping a person from some type of harm. Johnson could have chosen to use another word like rescue, but rescue refers more to setting someone free from a dangerous situation. In this case, the speaker needed to be saved from the water.

>> __Expert Move #3: Unpacking the figurative and connotative meanings__ >> The first part of this phrase “Continually saved by mermaids” (Johnson 7) is the speaker’s way of showing the inconvenience of having to be saved over and over again. As we saw in move 2, to be saved by a mermaid seems to be inconsistent with their mythological background. On the other hand, if you were thrown into the water, who better to save you than a creature that makes its home in the water. And from all the times that the speaker has been saved, he must own a great deal to the mermaids over the years.

>> Looking at mermaids from a lighter point of view, they may also relate to children’s movies where mermaids are shown to be helpful and loving creatures that are very human. So in a child’s eyes, it would seem that the image of a mermaid is something like a knight in shining armor amongst all these nasty pirates.

>> The term “waterlogged” (Johnson 8) shows that the speaker has spent far too much time in the water, much more time than he would have liked. Also when someone is forced to walk the plank, you tend to think that his or her hands are bound in some fashion, which would also lead to making it difficult to keep his or her head above the water. So depending on how soon a mermaid would come to save him, he may have spent a sizeable amount of time floundering about in the water.

>> __Expert Move #4: Re-contextualizing within the whole poem__ >> Johnson uses the phrase “Continually saved by mermaids, waterlogged” (7, 8) to show how the speaker was able to survive in a harsh pirate environment. All around this phrase are reasons and methods that the pirates used to make the speaker walk the plank. Without this line, the reader would be left wondering how the speaker was able to live to do it all over again.

Top of page



Way 4: Unpacking Another Instance of Figurative Language (Three)
>> __Expert Move #1: Identifying the figurative language__ >> In Peter Johnson’s poem “Pirates” the narrator tells his readers, “yet unable to please these master mariners” (9). This passage is primarily an example of imagery because of the use of the phrase "master mariner." This phrase is an example of using an allusive reference to help the readers imagine what a master mariner might look like. To some, an image of Captain Hook may come to mind, and others may see an image of Captain Ron.

>> __Expert Move #2: Exploring denotations__ >> Let’s start by looking at the word “unable” (Johnson 9). The literal meaning refers to someone who does not lack the sufficient means to accomplish a task (“unable”). In this poem, it seems that no matter what the speaker does, he is always walking the plank because he was unable to please his “master mariners” (Johnson 9). The word “please” (9) that means to satisfy someone (“please”). No matter how well the speaker performs, it seems that his “master mariners” (Johnson 9) are never happy with him. Which may be one of the reasons he has so much contempt for them.

>> The term “master mariner” (Johnson 9) literally refers to a captain or leader. This person is the one in charge of what happens, such as if someone is to walk the plank or take an examination. Also the term “master” (Johnson 9) implies that this leader has a certain level of expectations for their underlings. It is this level that proves difficult to obtain.

>> __Expert Move #3: Unpacking the figurative and connotative meanings__ >> While the main context of the poem deals with the speakers’ unfortunate experiences, line 9 is showing that amidst all of this, he really wants to satisfy the demands placed on him. The speaker admits that he was unable to please these captains. To be a pirate is the speaker’s passion. While he is unable to please, this does not mean that he is not capable; it just refers to the existing master mariners that he has dealt with.

>> To please someone is such a subjective action. One person may like it one way, while the next person may just hate it that way. There are many ways to please. The speaker could be looking at ways to change how he does things. Or the speaker can look at finding other master mariners that may take to his ways in a better light. Either way, the term "unable" (Johnson 9) in the phrase “unable to please” (Johnson 9) is just an obstacle rather than an impassable barrier.

>> Another possibility is that the speaker is just so stubborn that no matter what each captain does, the speaker refuses to comply. This attitude could land him in the same situations that are described in the rest of the poem. This may also be an attitude that formed after many years of this type of treatment.

>> __Expert Move #4: Re-contextualizing within the whole poem__ >> All of the actions in the poem revolve around the speaker’s inability to “please these master mariners” (Johnson 9). Each action is the direct result of displeasing each captain in some way. And looking at some of the examinations makes you think that the rest of the crew did not think very highly of him either.

Top of page



Way 4: Unpacking Another Instance of Figurative Language (Four)
>> __Expert Move #1: Identifying the figurative language__ >> In Peter Johnson’s poem “Pirates” the narrator tells his readers, “always probing my backside with their big swords” (Johnson 9-10). This passage is primarily an example of imagery because of the use of the terms “probing … [and] swords” (Johnson 10). Looking at the term sword first, it brings to mind a long shiny sword used in countless battles. Then with this in mind you can almost feel the tip of that sword in your back when you read the phrase “probing my backside” (Johnson 10).

>> __Expert Move #2: Exploring denotations__ >> The word “probing” (Johnson 10) that literally means to explore and the word backside refers to the speakers back (“probe”). And what were they using to probe; they are using their “big swords” (Johnson 10). Literally this phrase is referring to the pirates using their swords to poke his backside as he unwillingly walks the plank, again.

>> Johnson could have used a more direct way of saying something like always sticking me in the back with the tips of their swords. But this direct method does not lend as much power to the pirates as does the word probing. The term probing also has the emphasis on the “p” as does the word pirates. Which adds to the effect when read out loud.

>> __Expert Move #3: Unpacking the figurative and connotative meanings__ >> The phrase “always probing my backside with their big swords” (9–10) shows that the speaker never really wanted to walk the plank, but was persuaded to. This line represents the speaker’s reluctance to having to do things over and over again.

>> While he knew that he would most likely be saved after he plunged in the water, it still frustrated him that he was once again in this position. Maybe he was demanding a justification or hoping they would change their mind. Either way he was hoping to change the situation before he actually left the boat. It could be that once he left a boat he would never return to the same boat again.

>> __Expert Move #4: Re-contextualizing within the whole poem__ >> In the very beginning of the poem the speaker uses the word “agitated” (Johnson 1) to set the mood of the poem, showing how the speaker is always being forced to do things against his will. He mentions, “very few pirates made prisoners walk the plank” (Johnson 3-4), but he is not so lucky. He has “walked so many planks [his] feet were a mess of splinters” (Johnson 2-3). He did not do this willingly as shown with this line: “always probing my backside with their big swords” (Johnson 9-10). He is not discouraging others from being pirates, rather showing his discouragement towards his “master mariners” (Johnson 9). And finally he admits how it seems impossible to please these people by saying “Insatiable they be, and everywhere” (Johnson 16).

Top of page



Way 5: Analyzing the Setting
>> When I read the first sentence of this poem; “I’m agitated when I read of pirates” (Johnson 1). I can’t help but think that the setting for this could be almost anywhere but on a ship. The fact that pirates upset the speaker seems to suggest that he is on dry land somewhere. He could be on a dock, in a classroom, or in a café.

>> The setting that he refers to in the poem is definitely on a ship out in an ocean. Phrases like “splitting the waves” (Johnson 7) and “waterlogged” (Johnson 8) clearly point in this direction. The other key setting element is the word “plank” (Johnson 4) that ties the ship to the water for the speaker. Because the key topic of the story is how he always seems to be making the transition from the boat to the water via “walk[ing] the plank” (Johnson 4). It is this setting that helps to explain why the speaker is “agitated” (Johnson 1). For this story, no matter what else happened, it is these memories in these places that make the speakers point.

>> One thing about analyzing poetry is that it is reflective of the reader. In terms of the setting, I really preferred my original analysis, but I now realize that the setting of this poem is just the opposite of what I thought. The speaker of this poem is really the one remembering his childhood experiences in terms of pirates. I view the setting as an environment where the speaker is talking to a group of younger children, relating his experiences through simile and imagery.

Top of page



Way 6: Identifying and Analyzing Point of View
>> The point of view for this poem is first person. This point of view can be identified when the speaker refers to himself as “I.” The speaker is the protagonist of the story. The antagonists in the story are generally mentioned as “my Blackbeards … [or] master mariners” (Johnson 5, 9).

>> By using the first person point of view, the reader only learns about how the speaker feels and his experiences as well. We do not learn of the reasons why some of these events happen to him, only that he experiences them and he is not very impressed. Although, this point of view makes the story entertaining and lightens it up. If we were to look at it from other points of view such as a third person variant, the story may become more serious. The story would then take on the responsibility of looking at why the speaker was put in these positions. The speaker could be viewed as troublesome and/or mischievous. The reader may begin to favor the pirates instead.

Top of page



Way 7: Analyzing Complexity, Ambiguity, & Difficulty
>> __Difficulty__ >> For anyone who was born and raised in the United States, I don’t think that this poem will cause much difficulty at all. The amount of children’s stories dealing with pirates and mermaids have filled in today’s children with enough background information to understand this poem. But for someone not born here the amount of figurative language could pose a real challenge. It may be comparable to me reading old English poetry. Someone who is not familiar with this type of figurative language may, at first, take everything in this poem to literally and miss the humor.

>> Looking back now, I still think my original assessment was fitting. However, this poem is enjoyable for both young and old. The younger person will immediately recognized the humor and recognized some of the characters used. The more astute adult will enjoy the references woven into the story pointing back to a time when small responsibilities seemed like big ones, maybe thinking to themselves, if only life was that easy now.

>> __Ambiguity__ >> One example of ambiguity is in lines 2 and 3 “my feet were a mess of splin- / ters” (Johnson) meaning literally that his feet were pierced by several splinters. But it is not the literal interpretation that the poem is after. This phrase is really demonstrates the unwillingness to have to do something over and over again. The speaker views this as a type of torture, where he is not clear why he is “unable to please these master mariners” (Johnson 9). Thus explaining how his feet were covered in splinters to begin with.

Top of page

Way 8: Considering Canonicity
>> From the canonical point of view, I believe that this poem demonstrates aesthetical properties consisting of the use of figurative language, prosody, and prose form. Noting previous sections on unpacking figurative language, this poem is a valid candidate to demonstrate these uses to future students. The elements of prosody used also serve to further bring the content within the poem together. They serve to stress the perceived injustices felt by the speaker, as well as maintain the lightheartedness in the speaker’s intent.

>> From a cultural and historical point of view, I believe that it does reflect the language and the attitudes of the younger generation in the twentieth century. It reflects the stories and movies that children have grown up with. Its historical references to such things as walking the plank, pirates, mermaids, and Ali Baba are representative of a way of looking at the past with a light-hearted approach.

Top of page



Way 9: Biographical Context
>> I found a very telling interview with Peter Johnson entitled “Conversation with Peter Johnson” that really helped me to understand his motivation for writing such a poem as “Pirates.” As you have read in previous ways, this poem contains a strong comical element. This is not by chance, according to Johnson “[i]f humor has become part of the very ‘fabric’ of my poetry … that’s occurred simply because I view the world comically” (“Conversation with Peter Johnson” par. 5). Another reason that Johnson gives for this is that “[t]hough [he] can’t prove it. [Johnson] think[s] the prose poem wants to be funny” (“Conversation with Peter Johnson” par. 8). This poem is meant to elicit smiles and not fears. This poem is not about a real event, but rather a reflection of how the mind of Peter Johnson works. To experience this poem then is to experience a little bit of Johnson’s imagination and humor. It serves to inspire readers to explore prose poetry because it’s fun.

Top of page



Way 10: Historical and Cultural Contexts
>> This poem references a well-known pirate, Blackbeard. However, looking at actual historical evidence does not show Blackbeard in such a lighthearted light. “Blackbeard and his crew of pirates terrorized sailors on the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea from 1716 through 1718” (Kirkpatrick par. 2). In order to really look at historical evidence to illuminate this poem, we need to find answers to how such deadly pirates, such as Blackbeard, became the literary heroes. According to Diana Tierney, there are three categories that explain the pirate’s success. First, there is the question of why: “what does it mean to be a pirate? The lifestyle of a pirate was that of freedom and self enjoyment” (Tierney par. 2). This would help to explain why, in the poem, the speaker continued to “[walk] so many planks” (Johnson 2). The desire to be free was worth the price of failure. Second, “As far as Blackbeard is concerned he fits the pirate stereotype” (Tierney par. 3). In order to give the reader a reference to compare his pirates, he needed a well-known pirate, Blackbeard. And finally “In our way of romanticizing them we turn these pirates into heroes, even though they have just pillaged a whole town, … and broke God knows how many other laws, in our minds they are heroes” (Tierney par. 4). I believe this is the key element that really helps to explain this poem. In Johnson’s poem Pirates, we know the speaker is “agitated “(1), but he also “persisted” (8) to be accepted by them.

>> Yet another way of looking at the context of this poem is by looking back at your childhood education. Terms like pirates are really metaphors for all of the teachers you had over the years. These teachers taught lessons that were required to advance to the next grade. To ensure that the material was retained, “more and more examinations” (Johnson 11) were given. From the perspective of a child, who has yet to understand the reasons, it would seem that these lessons would more closely represent a form of torture.

Top of page



Way 11: Theoretical Application
>> Here I will look at Pirates from a new criticism perspective. A question that may be asked could be why did the author choose to use this rhyme “Making merry maps for / mighty marooned mariners” (Johnson 14-15)? The answer to this question lies in part to the effect given by its sound. This type of rhyme “even a small child would enjoy hearing it read aloud simply because of its pleasant sound” (Brown and Yarbrough 89). Not only the does the sound bring a smile to the listener, but the literal meaning of the words do as well. Which would ask about the denotative and connotative meanings of the words used. The first part of the phrase “Making merry maps” (Johnson 14) with the emphasis on the word merry, meaning happy or fun, brightens up this phrase. So why are they making merry maps? They are making them for “mighty marooned mariners” (Johnson 15). The frivolity comes by comparing the denotative meanings to the connotative meanings in this phrase. Denotatively, to be marooned is to be stranded on purpose. This may be a punishment for some offense done by this person. Connotatively, now we start with implying that the person marooned is now a mighty mariner. They were unjustly left somewhere by these nasty pirates. So in order to save them, a fun instructive map will be created.

Top of page



Way 12: Another Theoretical Application
>> Looking at Pirates from a reader response perspective, I believe that it would refer back to our very first Way. This analysis would stem from questions about how this poem affects the reader and how the reader relates to the poem. To understand these questions a suggestion by Norman Holland “when we read, we find our own ‘identity theme’ in the text by using 'the literary work to symbolize and finally replicate ourselves'” (Murfin par. 5). The reason a reader reads is both to learn and to understand the world around them. Thus, a reader’s initial reaction to reading the poem for the first time will be, in part, dictated by their own understanding so far. I compare this to how I looked at this poem when I first read it, to how I see it now. Initially I saw this as a typical children’s story, but now after spending the semester learning about the elements of literature, I can see some of the elements that stand out such as the imagery and alliteration. This is the difference between the “implied reader” and the “educated reader” who is the “intended reader” of literature (Murfin par. 4).

Top of page



Way 13: Unifying Interpretation
>> “Pirates” by Peter Johnson is a poem that takes the reader through many stages. These stages are what make this a good example of literature as our book states “the best poems keep working on you every time you revisit them” (Brown and Yarbrough 10). At first you let the title help to dictate what the poem is about. The speaker tells a story of his experiences “[g]rowing up” (Johnson 1). With each line, the reader is taken on a trip into a life of trials and tribulations when living with pirates. The speaker uses such graphic imagery of “splinters … Blackbeards … big swords” (Johnson 2-3, 5, 10) to further immerse the reader into this world. Even the exams are given in terms of a pirate theme such as “Making merry maps…” (Johnson 14). However this is really only the tip of the iceberg.

>> The direction the reader will take to the next stage is based on how the reader connects, or finds his or her own “identity theme” (Murfin par. 5), with the content. It will be these connections that inspire the reader to delve deeper into sub text of the poem. For me I found it interesting to explore the poem in terms of the pirates theme. For me I think the supporting story by Diana Tierney really helped to shed light on why the pirates theme works. In her story, she tries to explain why these pirates are such a pronounced topic to use for children’s stories, when in reality these people were villains. >>>> Americans love a good success story. We also love the “outlaw hero” the guy who breaks all of the rules but saves the day in the end. (Tierney par. 4). >> It is for this reason that the reader is able to focus on the speaker’s experiences and not on how bad pirates are. Thus a understanding of the background of pirates is helpful in digging into this poem. This is not to say that the reader should be an expert on pirates, but the more they understand about pirates and how they have played a role in pop culture can illuminate the poem in new ways.

>> Moving beyond interpreting the poem in terms of pirates to seeing the metaphorical references begins to take the reader deeper into another meaning in the poem. If we look at this poem with the understanding that pirates are metaphorically referring to a teacher, this helps the poem unfold in a new way. First to understand that this poem is a reflection back to an earlier period for the speaker by the phrase “Growing up” (Johnson 1) we can see how the speaker would be “agitated when [he] reads of [teachers]” (Johnson 1). The speaker laments about how he was made to do things over and over again with this reference: “I / walked so many planks” (Johnson 1-2). The speaker viewed these actions not from the point of view of his own benefit, but rather from a “paternal loin-tug” (Johnson 5) mentality of his teacher. Each time the speaker would fail he would be “saved by mermaids” (Johnson 7) or a motherly type of figure. Once again the speaker reflects back on the “examinations” (Johnson 11) as a type of torture when learning subjects such as math or English. For the speaker, most of the adult figures he met would be perceived as more of these dreaded teachers with his final sentence “Insatiable they be, and everywhere” (Johnson 16).

Top of page



Works Cited and Consulted
Johnson, Peter. "Pirates." __Pretty Happy.__ Fredonia, New York: White Pine Press, 1997.

Brown, James S. and Scott D. Yarbrough. __A Practical Introduction to Literary Study.__ Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.

Frech, Stephen and Peter Johnson. “Conversation with Peter Johnson.” __Poetry Daily__. 2004. 21 April 2009. < http://www.cstone.net/~poems/essajohn.htm>

Tierney, Diana. “The Enduring Legacy of Pirates.” __Suite101.com.__ 1 Jun. 2007. 29 Apr. 2009. .

Kirkpatrick, Jennifer. “Blackbeard: Pirate Terror At Sea.” __National Geographic.__ 29 Apr. 2009. .

Murfin, Ross and Supriya M. Ray. “Definition Of Reader-Response Criticism.” __virtuaLit.__ Bedford St. Martins. 6 May 2009. .

"unable." Antonyms. Answers Corporation, 2008. Answers.com 13 May. 2009. .

"please." Antonyms. Answers Corporation, 2008. Answers.com 13 May. 2009. .

"walk." Antonyms. Answers Corporation, 2008. Answers.com 13 May. 2009. .

"splinter." Antonyms. Answers Corporation, 2008. Answers.com 13 May. 2009. .

"mermaid." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 13 May. 2009. .

"save." Antonyms. Answers Corporation, 2008. Answers.com 13 May. 2009. .

"probe." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 13 May. 2009. .

Top of page