Reading Poetry: 'The Ballad of John Silver'

In this worksheet you will an extract of 'A Ballad of John Silver' by John Masefield. Read the extract from the start of the poem, and answer the following questions.

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We were schooner-rigged and rakish, with a long and lissome hull,

And we flew the pretty colours of the crossbones and the skull;

We'd a big black Jolly Roger flapping grimly at the fore,

And we sailed the Spanish Water in the happy days of yore.

We'd a long brass gun amidships, like a well-conducted ship,

We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass at the hip;

It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored,

But we chased the goodly merchant-men and laid their ships aboard.

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In this worksheet you will be asked questions about the extract above. If you need to read it again you can do so by clicking on the Help button.