busyThis is the freebie for the September 2011 Muse Fusion over on 
torn_world. The driving rhythm is typical of working songs, which are designed to coordinate large groups. They often play fast and loose with near-rhymes and true-rhymes, and some popular songs have many verses or versions.
Pull Your Ropes
-- a Duurludirj sea chantey
-- a Duurludirj sea chantey
Clouds on the horizon --
Women, pull your ropes!
Now the wind is risin' --
Seamen, pull your ropes!
There's a storm a-coming --
Women, pull your ropes!
Hear the sails a-drumming --
Seamen, pull your ropes!
Batten down the hatches --
Women, pull your ropes!
Fasten all the latches --
Seamen, pull your ropes!
Rush and make her ready --
Women, pull your ropes!
We will hold her steady --
Seamen, pull your ropes!
September 20 2011, 23:13:15 UTC 9 years ago
It feels like it would work more like a call and response song with 2-3 more syllables in each "call," eg, "See those clouds on the horizon/Women, pull your ropes!/Now the eastern wind's a risin'/Seamen, pull your ropes!"
Hmm...
September 21 2011, 07:24:46 UTC 9 years ago
I've noticed that many poems, including chanteys, have long/short lines that are one syllable apart, which is what I did here. I believe there are other patterns, but I'm not really enough of a statistician to sit down and whack out the meters for a hundred or so folk songs to establish a baseline. (I don't suppose anyone knows if this kind of work has already been done and written up somewhere accessible?) I think trying to add extra syllables now would feel like padding.
I may keep this in mind for future reference, though, and try to write a work song with a wider gap between the long and short lines. You could always request that during a Muse Fusion.