Temeraire

By Parson Thru

Wed, 08 Jul 2020
  • 1696 reads
8 comments
 

They dragged her into Rotherhithe

Her boards were warped

Bilges foul and leaking

Her rigging sparse and lank

 

Her tales became a ramble

No one listened anymore

Her myth of crashing through the line,

Of rescuing the day, was of another time

 

Turner flattered her

Romanticised an ordinary moment

Dowager of the Thames, trick of light

One more decrepit hulk

 

Her sisters were long gone

Except the flagship, off for taxidermy**

Decay had got them; nothing else to do

But de-mast the hull and cut her up

 
 

** vivisection? :)))) Don't post stuff in the middle of the night, Kreveen.

Certificate U
Poem
Mortality Games
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Ed Crane on

You have done him and the Fighting Temeraire justice with this excellent poem

(I'm just taking advantage of a little peace and quiet) 

Back soon I hope

I remember Rotherhithe well. I worked in Bermondsey and spent many a pleasant lunch hour in the Mayflower when it hid behind crowds of old Victorian warehouses in the days before they demolished them for Thatcherite upmarket apartments and it became a tourist attraction.

This has to be cherry bait Kevin!

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Hi Ed. I hope all is well.

That London, hey? Might be that York, Stoke, Glasgow or Weston super Mare. It's hilarious in a sad and reflective kind of way hearing the not so great and not very good lambasting China now and talking about breaking the dependency. Tell the to the two generations or so who've had self respect, security and meaning snatched from them in the name of superyachts and islands in the sun.

Look after yourself Ed.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

He made an interesting attractive painting! All on earth now rusts and breaks, even the grand and the 'Titanics'!

Enjoyed your capture of the scene. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

I'm pulling my hair out, Rhiannon. You'll have to help. I was thinking maybe Shelley but then thought parable. Google is no help at all. Is it one of yours?

Parson Thru

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

If you're asking about my reference to all on earth now rusting, failing, I was simply thinking of Matthew 6:19-21 where Jesus says, 'Do not store yp for yourselve treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves to not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.' and also in Romans (8:21) it speaks of the creation itself being 'liberated from its bondage ot decay' when Christ comes again. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Thanks, Rhiannon. It had a feel of either Shelley or scripture. Good advice.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Di_Hard on

"They dragged her into Rotherhithe"  This ia a great first line, not towed, you make the ship a person

"Her tales became a ramble

No one listened anymore" not only a person but an old lady

so "Dowager...becomes one more decrepit hulk" is brutal. You have added to my understanding of the painting, thankyou

 

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Hi Di. Not too brutal, I hope. Unless life itself is brutal. Maybe it is. Thanks for a lovely considered piece of commentary.

Parson Thru