The Wayward Sailor

[dukealien]

On a large bobbing barrel
In the middle of the sea,
Floats a wayward little sailor,
So happy and carefree.

Nevermore to hear the shouts
Of drunken men in drunken bouts.
Nor to hear of men’s fierce yells,
From which all darkness swells.

But instead to float on salty foam,
‘Till he finds an island home,
And lay across its golden shore
Where worries bother him no more.

And in his mental sanitation,
To forget all men, and deprivation.

This is fun, and a little sad or wistful; looks like you may have abandoned it before finishing the last verse.  With a bit of attention to meter, it could be sung to the tune of "Reuben and Rachel," with which it has some thematic similarities as well as a (potentially) a regular pattern of varied line lengths.

First order of business could be fitting the first stanza's first and last lines' rhythm to the second and third, for example, "On a large and bobbing barrel/In the middle of the sea, /Floats a wayward little sailor,/Dreaming, happy, and carefree.]"  From there on, that rhythm would require other changes to fit an ABCB rhyme scheme.  Rewriting the whole thing could be a good exercise, and produce a poem easy to read, recite, or sing that preserves its half-rollicking, half-wistful character.


It will take work, but I think you're onto something here.