Cast for Lag by Sheila Kaye-Smith
A rum-pad — a highwayman — stands on the pine-fringed shore of the Pamunkey, listening to the roar of the torrent and sighing for his Jenny. He recalls being cast for lag: sentenced to transportation. He was flung into the stinking hold of a slaver, kicked and flogged like a vagrant cur, and reflects bitterly that such treatment was hard on a gentleman who sighed for pretty Jenny. Bought by a planter, he was driven many miles under a sweltering sun, lashed together with a foul, black negro; each time he stumbled the whip fell on his back, and he sighed for Jenny. Set to work in the sugar canes, he suffers hunger, thirst, and the sun's hot pains, sleeping at night among a filthy crew, tossing and sweating, and dreaming wretched dreams of Jenny. His miserable days pass in grinding toil beneath a torrid sky, amid pain, hate, thirst, and wild hunger, weeping at night like a beaten child, and calling on pretty Jenny to pray for him.
By Sheila Kaye-Smith · Genre: Poetry, Narrative Poetry, Ballad · 259 words
First lines
On the Pamunkey's pine-fringed shore -- / Lord! how drear is the torrent's roar! / Sits the gentleman rum-pad, slave, / Watching the leap of the restless wave, / And sighing for his Jenny.
Cast for lag was this scampsman bold, / Flung in a slaver's stinking hold, / Kicked and flogged like a vagrant cur -- / That was hard on a gentleman, Sir, / Who sighed for pretty Jenny.
Bought by a planter and driven away / Many a mile on a sweltering day, / Lashed to a negro, foul and black, / Each time I stumbled the whip on my back, / Lord! how I sighed for Jenny.
What this Textopian page supports
Cast for Lag is listed on Textopian as a poem by Sheila Kaye-Smith, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Sheila Kaye-Smith
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Narrative Poetry, Ballad, Historical Poetry, Social Commentary
- Length: 259 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Cast for Lag by Sheila Kaye-Smith
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Poetry — The work is written entirely in verse with consistent rhythm, rhyme scheme, and poetic structure employing regular stanzaic form.
- Narrative Poetry — The poem tells a complete chronological story of the protagonist's journey from crime through transportation to slavery with clear narrative progression.
- Ballad — The work employs traditional ballad characteristics including regular stanzaic structure, rhyming couplets, and a folk-song quality suited for oral recitation.
- Historical Poetry — The poem is set in colonial America (Pamunkey River region) and depicts the historical practices of criminal transportation and slavery during the colonial period.
Tags
highwayman · penal transportation · slavery · plantation · Virginia · colonial America · love · lost love · separation · longing · nostalgia · despair