Nelson & His World

Remember Nelson!



an extract from Branwell Brontë's poem 'Lord Nelson':

'...who thinks his feeble frame must vainly long
To tread the footsteps of the bold and strong
Who thinks that born beneath a lowly star
He cannot cllimb those heights he sees from far,
To him, I name one word (it needs but one)
NELSON: a world's defence, a Kingdom's noblest son.

I see him sit - his coffin by his chair
With pain-worn cheeks and wind-dishevelled hair,
A little, shattered wreck from many a day
Of ocean storm and battle passed away,
Prepared at any hour God bade to die
But not to rest or stop or strike or fly
While, like a burning brand, his spirit's flame
Brightened as it consumed his mortal frame...'

Hello Tycho,

What a lovely poem! I have spent most of this day watching films/documentaries about Nelson and Collingwood and reading Nelsonian books in purring company of my cats Nelson and Oberon.

I wonder how other contributors spent Trafalgar Day?

Sylvia

I hope you found your Trafalgar Day relaxing, Sylvia.

I spent mine at the Bishop's Palace in Wells where I had been invited to give a talk on Nelson at a literary luncheon that formed part of the Wells festival of Literature which takes place this week.

It was quite nerve-racking as most of the Great and Good of Wells were there, and after the last hectic few weeks, I was exhausted and afraid I would be barely coherent. However, the audience was kind and the food was delicious so it was quite a pleasant experience in retrospect. The venue can be seen under the 'private hire' heading on www.bishopspalace.org.uk

Afterwards, one member of the audience mentioned that he had in his possession an original diary written by a naval chaplain about 1780 and has invited me to see it. Another said that his son was given 'an old medal' by his flatmate, from an old naval family, who was 'clearing out some rubbish'. It is a bronze Nile medal, in marvellous condition, accompanied by a note written by the designer of the medal. I was unable to say whether this was of any value, though I suspect it is. I wonder if anyone else could comment.

Anna, what a touching poem. Do you have the rest of it? I have failed to find it in spite of googling for some time!

What a prodigiously talented family the Brontes were. And it is fascinating to speculate that, were it not for our Hero, they might still be the "Brunty" family. And in yet another link to Nelson, Branwell pursued his downfall through drink and drugs at the Lord Nelson Tavern.

How good it would have been had the Government marked the Bicentenary by creating Trafalgar Day an additional public holiday. Then perhaps we could all have joined the good folk of Wells to hear your talk.

Hello Agamemnon!

The Bronte poem is nearly 300 lines long. There is quite a long extract in the Birthday Anthology. If you'd like a copy send me an email (nelsonATnelsonand hisworld) and a contact address and I'll put one in the post. I got the text of the poem from the Bronte Museum in Haworth who were extremely friendly and helpful. I think that is in the attic with all the rest of the anthology paraphernalia, but if you want the whole 300 lines I'll brave the spiders and dig it out for you and email it to you by private message.

Yes, it's rather ironic that Patrick drank himself to oblivion in the Lord Nelson, in view of his Lordship's dim view of drunkards. Though he would have approved the Brontë loathing of the French!