Grace

By luigi_pagano

Tue, 30 Jul 2024
  • 660 reads
8 comments
 
Grace Horsley Darling (24 November 1815 – 20 October 1842) was an English lighthouse keeper's daughter. Her participation in the rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked Forfarshire in 1838 brought her national fame 
 
*** 
Inspired by her bravery,
poets from Wordsworth
to William McGonacall 
penned laudatory verse
about an extraordinary
young girl called Grace.
 
She became famous
for saving the lives of people
stranded on a rock
after a shipwreck
by rowing a small coble
in a treacherous rough sea.
 
Alongside her father.
the lighthouse keeper,
fought the raging waters
and held the boat steady
so that the survivors
could be taken on board.
 
When the news spread
she became a heroine;
dozens of portrait painters
sailed to her island home
to capture her likeness.
September the 7th 1838
was the start of a legend.
 
 
 
© Luigi Pagano 2024
Certificate U
Poem
Mutevoli pensieri
Historical Fiction
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Was she the inspiration for the start of the RNLI or has it already started, d'you know? Rhiannon

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

No; Grace and her father were awarded the Silver Medal for Bravery by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, later renamed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Best, Luigi x

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Luigi,

A tribute of a poem to such an amazing and courageous woman. She was definitely Amazing Grace and you picked the right time to share it with the I. P. this week.

Jenny. xx

 

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hello Jenny. The wording of the  I.P. reminded me of Grace  Darling, the courageous girl who helped save shipwrecked people. I thought I would recount that fateful episode, even though the poem deviated from the more obvious meaning of the prompt.

I claim poetic licence. laugh

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Nolan on

She was very brave and especially in staying alive! There is a similar story here of heroic Wolraad Woltemade saving sailors in a terrible storm from a ship wrecked, each time returning to the ship in the sea, on his horse, and he was drowned also himself in the end. The ship was "Der Junge Thomas".

I enjoyed your story. All the best! Nolan &

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Thank you for informing me of this episode, Nolan. Wolraad Woltemade sadly died while rescuing sailors from the wreck of the ship De Jonge Thomas in Table Bay on 1 June 1773.

Best wishes, Luigi

 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

Thanks for looking it up Luigi and giving us the correct facts. Tom

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

It was a very relevant piece of information, Tom, worth following it up.

Best, Luigi