Nelson & His World

Thinking about verses on Nelson, I've been wondering about the authenticity of a poem (supposedly written by Nelson to Emma) which appears in Jack Russell's 'Nelson and the Hamiltons' (page 349 of my edition.)

It's titled 'Henry (off Cadiz) to Emma' and the first couple of verses go like this:

The storm is o'er,
The troubled main
Now heaves no more,
But all is silent - hushed - and calm again,
Save in this bosom - where a ceaseless storm
Is raised - by love and Emma's beauteous form

No calm, at sea,
This heart shall know,
While far from thee,
Midst lengthening hours of absence, and of woe,
I gaze - in sorrow, o'er the boundless deep,
With eyes - which were they not ashamed would weep.

I would be extremely grateful if any browsers/posters could shed light on whether this poem has ever been verified as being genuine, or signpost where the original might be?

Thanks in advance for any pointers received!

I have no evidence as to whether the poem is genuine or where the original might be, but I am inclined to think that it is indeed Nelson's work.

The prevalent poetic form in the 18th century was the 'heroic couplet' that is, pairs of rhymed lines in iambic pentameter (i.e. each line having five weak and strong beats - ti-tum, ti-tum, ti-tum, ti-tum, ti-tum. It can become incredibly monotonous. In this poem, however, a more subtle rhyming pattern is used, with three short iambic lines followed by three longer ones. At first, I thought that Nelson would never have attempted anything so out of the ordinary but would have clung to the heroic couplet. Then I had a look at another poem he wrote, the one that does contain the famous quatrain of two heroic couplets:

'a heart susceptible, sincere and true,
An Heart by fate and nature torn in two,
One half to duty and his country due,
The other, better half to love and you.'

but also uses a blend of shorter and longer lines e.g.:

'Deign to receive though unadorned
By thy poetic art,
The rude expressions which bespeak
A sailor's untaught heart.'

In both poems the effect of seeming simplicity is achieved by a skilful handling of an unusual metre.

The sentiments and language are similar in both poems, and he uses the same pseudonym 'Henry' because, as Jack Russell points out, 'Horace would not scan, and no one called him Horatio, so he was Henry'. He also says that he was 'no poet' and his 'imagery was commonplace.' Possibly true, but I think Our Hero deserves a beta plus for effort and initiative in forsaking the heroic couplet.

Perhaps it was inspired by 'Henry and Emma, a Poem, Upon the Model of The Nut-brown Maid' by Matthew Prior, #143 in http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8HGv ... &q&f=false ?

Nelson's (?) poem also appears in Pettigrew where he disputes Nicolas's attribution of the other poem (quoted by Anna) to Harrison. (Nicolas's reasoning on the other poem was factually incorrect.)