Sailing from Plymouth

I Threw a Penny Across the Thames

I threw a penny across the Thames
It seemed a reasonable thing to do
I threw a penny across the Thames
And then, my dear, I dreamed of you.

Oh, did I mention
That the Thames is quite narrow
At the place where I stood when I hurled the coin?
Nearby a man glared
With his threatening wheelbarrow
And I felt like a Catholic
At The Battle of the Boyne.

I hope the coin’s found
In Year 25-8
By a chap with a pipe
And a metal detector
He’ll be shocked when he squints
And uncovers the date
And he’ll sing out in praise
To his Lord and Protector.

But that’s just a fantasy
What we have’s true
Though I’m poorer a penny
I’m richer for you.
And the brute with his barrow
And the toff with his tool
Are but loose-change reminders
To this pence-pitching fool.

On the south bank’s my copper
(I left from the north
Through the village of Standlake
And its dwellings of worth
Left my piece of the Queen
For another to find
Left the romance and fancy
For the salaried grind.)

Yet life’s not so simple
When it’s pennies from heaven
And the Thames winds through Oxon
With an oxbow (or seven)
So I soon had to stop
At another bridge crossing
Yet the river quite wide
For more copper-disc-tossing.

On the road was a booth
And a lad with a beard
With his palm sticking out
(It was certainly weird
For the sole occupation
Of this latter-day troll
Was to stop every car
For the price of a toll.)

“5p” said the sign
On the front of the booth
And I counted my pennies
For the sullen-faced youth
From the jumble of coins
On the passenger seat
Then extended the five
Like a calf to a teat.

He motioned me on
Without saying a word
So I inched the car forward
With my passage secured
And nearing the center
Of the hundred-foot span
I abruptly stopped driving
In heed of a plan.


Then taking the coins
Which remained in the car
I climbed out and strolled over
To the bridge-side, not far,
Then flung two coins bank-wards
One north and one south
Where I saw troll-boy watching
With beard-opened mouth.

And the rest of the coins
I dropped into the flow
With a thought for the fishies
Which swarmed there below
‘Neath a rainfall of metal
Disturbing their swim
A wishing-well horror
From a man up there; Him.

I threw my pennies from the middle of the Thames
It seemed a reasonable thing to do
I threw my pennies from the middle of the Thames
And now, my dear, I’m dreaming of you.