A Night to Remember

Gold cherry

By marandina

Mon, 10 Apr 2023
  • 2560 reads
21 comments
 

Audio version at: https://soundcloud.com/user-62051685/a-night-to-remember

 

Today marks the 111th Anniversary of the maiden voyage of RMS Titanic. It set sail for its intended destination of New York from Southampton on April 10th 1912.

 

A Night to Remember

Sepia-soaked legend, modern myth,

boat built of blood and Belfast steel

to cross an ocean to a New World,

embarkation: first class to steerage.

Frenetic fiddles flayed below decks,

smoke from Cuba above, first-class,

whisky drunk from cut-glass crystal,

dancing beyond midnight’s chimes.

Stars mirrored on plate-glass seas,

translucent ice unseen in shadow,

silent, soundless and submerged,

moments flicker in monochrome.

Rivets riven, brine-water gushing,

lifeboats braced under tarpaulin,

shouts of alarm summoning souls,

calls of women and children first.

Sad violins playing stoical hymns,

dreams sliding to a watery abyss,

leaving restless, Atlantic ghosts

roaming beneath elegiac waves.

 

Footnote:

It was in 2003 that I attended an IMAX presentation of “Ghosts of the Abyss.” It was a film of James Cameron and crew exploring the wreck of the Titanic far below the waves in the Atlantic Ocean. From then, my son became obsessed with the legend along with millions of others already fascinated by the tragic tale. It led me vicariously to posters, models, books, documentaries and trips to museums in Southampton and Belfast along with numerous other interactions. Today the story continues to captivate, sadden and enthral in equal measure.

 

Image free to use at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RMS_Titanic_3.jpg

https://www.historyonthenet.com/titanic-timeline-3

Certificate PG
Poem
Miscellaneous Poems
Drama

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

You capture the unthinking merriment , and the description of the ice 'silent, soundless and submerged', is evocative, and 'Stars mirrored on plate-glass seas' . You obviously have the details well in your mind.

Do you remember the ice scultpures?   https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-20020498
I probably wouldn't have noticed about it at the time, but there was a competition on here and the stage of it required a Fib poem based on some headline that week, and it caught my imagination.
https://www.abctales.com/story/rhiannonw/poignant-ice-tribute-titanic-vi...
I don't know why that was done in the autumn of that year though

 

 

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, Rhiannon. And thank you for the links. I don't remember that ice sculpture story at all. Very interesting, though. Enjoyed your poem from the archive. It's hard for me to imagine ABCtales running writing competitions but they clearly happened in the past. Enjoy Easter Monday. Paul 

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

As Rhiannon said, you capture the detail and the atmosphere so well. The story encapsulates so much about its time, and the human cost continues to capture our imaginations. Lovely commemorative piece, Paul.

Submitted by marandina on

Ah thanks Jane. Glad you liked this one. It's probably more about my lad again than anything else. He became obsessed with the Titanic story from 2003. He's watched "A Night to Remember" - the black and white movie with Kenneth More - countless times along with Cameron's Di Caprio blockbuster. It's always a shame when Jack's hand is let go and he slips away to the bottom of the ocean. Poor bloke. 

 

Yes, we've spent the weekend in Belfast in 2015 visiting the museum and taking a tour of the SS Nomadic close by; been to the Titanic museum in Southampton and bought a huge model of the ship in a glass case from an antique store in Cheddar Gorge! He has two scale models on his bookshelf in his bedroom, a framed picture of the White Star logo and had a piece published online by a respected historical website a few years ago. There's books, magazines etc as well.

 

The legend never fades away. Paul 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Paul, 

you capture the endless memories of that tragic event perfectly. I've only ever seen the film with Di Caprio in and found it to be a real tear-jerker. 

It's of value that you've written such an expressive poem and kept the memory alive on this memorable day.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, Jenny. The 1958 movie "A Night to Remember" is considered to be the definitive account of the events of the sinking apart from the ship breaking into two parts. Well worth a watch if you fancy a 1958 classic in black and white with some very stiff-upper-lip acting going on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPAqttGXFaU

This week mirrors the fateful journey ending in tragedy on Saturday 15th April. Marine laws were changed as a result including legal minimums for lifeboats on ships etc.

 

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for the cherries, ABC Eds. Much appreciated. And thank you to those who have listened to my audio. Took a few goes as I had to check the pronunciation of "elegiac" and found I had got it wrong to start with. Paul :) 

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

Thanks for this marandina - I admit I know almost nothing about the titanic bar the bare bones of the story - never seen any films or documentaries, but it is fascinating and I'm going to read up on it now, after your beautiful poem

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, insert. It can become all-consuming once get drawn into it. There are items still being found from the wreck today. Even the fate of many of those drowned has its own story with graveyards full of passengers in Halifax, Canada of all places. Documentaries have told their story years after the event. Probably the biggest shame is that the Titanic will eventually disappear as it is being slowly eaten by bacteria. Even giant liners turn to dust in the end... 

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

An anniversary to remember, and this commemoration is our Facebook and Twitter Pick of the Day.

Submitted by marandina on

Oh thank you, so much. That's wonderful! Paul 

 

Submitted by jeand on

HI Paul

You clearly show your fascination with this boat and its history. Beautifully written, as all your work is.

Jean Day

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, Jean. This did take a while to put together as I wanted to do the story justice. I am a bit of a Titanic anorak (Titanorak) these days thanks to my lad. It's a sad, enigmatic and enduring chain of events that still captures the imagination. Paul 

 

Submitted by donignacio on

Wonderful poem... Evocative and helps me feel like I've experienced some of this myself. Great work.

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading and glad you liked it,  donignacio. Paul 

 

Submitted by celticman on

titanic was he print the legend variety of hubris. The boat that couldn't sink- yet did-- as you show. 

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thamks for reading, CM. Titanic was thought of as "practically unsinkable". White Star never claimed to have said it was unsinkable but that's what ended up in folklore. Funny how history gets rewritten, invariably by the Press.

 

Submitted by David Kirtley on

I can visualise the Great Ship going down with your well chosen words! You describe the ship being the conclusion of art and design progress, symbol of a great developing modern culture of engineering and culture and style. It went down bravely with the 'sacrifice' of so many 'noble' people, mostly men I presume. In a way it represents the conclusion of the 19th Century period of peace economic development, progress, optimism and reform, before the huge disasters of the First World War, and WW2, when so much of it came tumbling down!

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, David. Yes, I guess 1912 was a precursor to the First World War et al.

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Most beautifully read! I didn't know how to say elegiac either, so glad to be enlightened :0) Cut glass and translucent ice, plate glass sea and brine-water gushing, you have described it all really well! And David's comment too, about the Titanic coming just before the War, made me think that it was this turmoil that was the New World the ship was heading into, and the class structure that travelled on Titanic would not survive intact, any more than the riven rivets in the brine water gushing
I didn't know it was the anniversary, and you did it proud

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, Di. Yes I had to check the pronunciation online which I should have done before recording the audio! Still...got there in the end. The Titanic story endures. It's such a tragic soap opera and there's so much more to it than this poem and the points made in the comments. The Bruce Ismay subplot being an example. May she rest in peace at the bottom of the ocean forming a museum fused with nature.