A winter storm is roaring down from Labrador.
I've had a cold, hard day out on the sea.
My shoulder pains from pulling lobster traps.
I thought the waves would swamp the Phyllis E.
Sit down at the organ, Willa,
play Whispering Hope for me.
You sing soprano, I'll sing the bass.
I want to warm my back
against the parlor stovepipe
I want to watch the lamplight
on the curves of your face.
I love to see you sitting by the pantry door,
churning yellow butter on your knee.
The codfish stew is hot and tasty, Willa.
Could you cut a slice of rhubarb pie for me?
Sit down at the organ, Willa,
play Whispering Hope for me.
You sing soprano, I'll sing the bass.
I want to warm my back
against the parlor stovepipe
I want to watch the lamplight
on the curves of your face.
Harry, set my boots to dry on the open oven door.
then bring a load of wood in from the shed.
Percy, lift your little sister off the chilly floor.
Carol, bring another loaf of molasses bread.
Sit down at the organ, Willa,
play Whispering Hope for me.
You sing soprano, I'll sing the bass.
I want to warm my back
against the parlor stovepipe
I want to watch the lamplight
on the curves of your face.
I recall the day I went to get you, Willa.
It was a long, hard pull against the tide.
But I'm so glad I rowed across to Little Harbour
and brought you home to be my bride.
Sit down at the organ, Willa,
play Whispering Hope for me.
You sing soprano, I'll sing the bass.
I want to warm my back
against the parlor stovepipe
I want to watch the lamplight
on the curves of your face.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I think this looks more like a song now than free verse. The Martha Washington Pie has disappeared in favor of fewer syllables, but it's something the ladies of my Grandmother's fishing village in Nova Scotia used to make regularly. It wasn't a pie, it was a white cake, yellow with eggs, round, in two layers, with a sweet cranberry sauce filling, white icing on the top only, and grated coconut - it had to be the long shreds - to decorate the top. It was served in pie wedges. I'd forgotten about that but now that I have it in my mind again, I can almost taste it. - Wilhelmina.
Very nice job on reorganizing this lyric! Totally looks like a song now and a nice one at that. The only thing I would suggest would be maybe to put a couple of those verses together rather than going V C V C V C V C. The chorus is quite long and it is sang four times which might be a bit much, but V V C V V C or V V C V C V C would work a little bit better perhaps.
I'd never heard of M W Pie either but looked it up on the net. The only thing I could think of when I read that was Martha Washington geraniums and I didn't think anyone made pie out them! LOL The rhubarb works great though.
Rewriting or revising is sometimes as difficult or can be even more so at times, than the original write. This turned out very well. :)
