Cargoes

I think that the speaker is intending to show us how more modern cargo ships carry more useful cargo cargoes compared to the older cargo ships even though in away they carry things that seem to be less precious and have less appeal. The speaker tells us how the quinquireme boat carried things such as; apes, peacocks and sweet white wine, which where luxurious items for perhaps pleasure. Where as the Spanish galleon carries things like; emeralds, gold and cinnamon, which, still quite appealing where probably traded or sold to buy more useful things. Lastly the speaker talks about the British coaster that carried things like; Tyne coal, fire wood and tin trays, which are not appealing but are necessities and probably more use full than white wine or amethysts which the other two ships carried

John used repetition to keep the stanzas connected to each other by begging the third line on each stanza with ‘with a cargo of’ followed by a list of the ships cargo. He illustrated hi poem by using words such as; rowing, sunny, stately, dipping, dirty and butting.

John used some rhyme, which isn’t that obvious. He rhymed the last word of the first line and the last word of the fifth line in each stanza. He does not achieve comparison by using similes but by using imagery. He achieves his intentions through the use of alliteration and euphony. The euphony and alliteration occurs mainly in the first and second stanzas. The words in the first two stanzas work with the meaning to please mind and ear. They are slow moving compared to the last stanza. The alliteration occurs when the speaker lists the cargoes of the ships. He uses ‘C’ and ‘S’ sounds in two different ways. In the first stanza he uses them to give a nice easy flow to the poem. He also uses them later on in the poem, towards the end but with different intensions. He uses them this time to stop the flow of the poem and make it harder to read or speak.

the thing to consider in Masefield's poem is his use of rhythm. The third verse in cargoes, for example, reflects the short choppy waves in the channel, the north sea and the western approaches. the first verse uses a sliding series of words - one can almost feel oneself cruising down the Nile on the flow. The roll and sway of the galleon is evident in the central stanza. The nature of