Nelson & His World

I came across this picture of a rough pillar erected in memory of Nelson by the workers of the Lorn Furnace Company:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/goforchris/3654858455/

A passer by, according to the Naval Chronicle (perhaps someone can supply a more precise reference?) left the following comment on the table of a nearby inn:

No artist's hands the trophied column raise,
No chissel'd labours swell the theme of praise;
An unhewn stone here bears our Nelson's name,
Bold as his genius, towering as his fame;
What fairer tribute would his spirit crave,
Than that which freemen offer to the brave.

Anna,

The passer by is obviously something of a poet, perhaps even a famous one. For some reason, I don't know why, Sir Walter Scott springs to mind, since I seem to remember he wrote some poetry to do with Nelson, but perhaps it's not him. Whoever it was, he was obviously also either into graffitti, or had to quickly write on the table before the muse left him, and presumably had nothing else to do it on! Just a thought.

Here's Scott's tribute to Nelson - a short extract from his long (not to say interminable) poem, 'Marmion'.

http://www.poetry-love-poems.com/scott/nelson.php

I can't say 'Marmion' speaks to me - even though it was admired and quoted by the melancholy Captain Benwick in Jane Austen's 'Persuasion.'

I must say our anonymous poet has the edge here, I think.