There they sat on the deck,
The deck of the old ship.
Cannonballs just placed there,
Placed there in a pyramid
On a plate of brass.
They sat there ready to be fired,
Fired from the cannon.
The plate was called a monkey,
The name of many holders
Back in the day.
There was a problem though
Occasionally it got cold,
So cold that the monkey got smaller
And the cannonballs fell off.
So we ended up with the saying
That is used often now,
In very cold weather
As we say it is cold enough,
Cold enough to freeze the balls,
Freeze the balls off a brass monkey.
-
Author:
Goldfinch60 (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: April 6th, 2025 01:15
- Comment from author about the poem: This came to me after I explained the saying to a friend
- Category: Reflection
- Views: 13
- Users favorite of this poem: Cheeky Missy
Offline)
Comments6
An old Carry On film has a line: 'Oh, don't talk b***s to me!' or similar words.
"Infamy, infamy, they've all got it infamy!"
Yes lol.
Interesting history of the saying🙏🏻🕊️
Thank you arqios.
Andy
You’re welcome Andy🙏🏻🕊️
lol my father uses this saying. 🌹
Many people do Teddy, thank you.
Andy
Thank you for enlighting me, I never knew that's where the saying came from, enjoyed the read
My pleasure Tobani, much appreciated.
Andy
You are very welcome
Now this is a gem Gold a story that sounds so familiar that I feel I have heard it before but that I can not place and may be my unconscious lying to me the exact type of haunted feeling that I find so intriguing in a poem. Very nice Andy
Thank you soren, these storis do rise from somewhere within our minds.
Andy
Well look at that, you learn something new every day. I've always wondered about monkey balls. Now I know. 😁
We all learn something new AP but at my age when I learn something new something I once knew falls out of the memory as it is too full. LOL
Andy
I think they call that "Out with the old, in with the new" 😁👍
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