"TOLL FOR THE BRAVE!"

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 7, 9 January 1932, Page 17

"TOLL FOR THE BRAVE!"

LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE

(By "Ajax.!')

That' the""lo8s-of the' Royal George 15Q. years ago should ;b.e as familiar throughout the English-speaking world, to-day as that of any other ship before or since, is a wonderful testimony to the popularity and' the powdr of .Cowper's poem, upon, .the subje.ct,. And the ordinary reader's complete dependence upon the poem for his information is proved by the fact that it is vitiated /by the same fundamental error which was inevitable when Cowper wrote, and remained uncorrected for more'than 50 years. .As the poem says, the Royal George sank at anchor in harbour'; but the squall which capsized her was a fictionwhichgained.easy credence when the Admiralty suppressed the finding of the Court Martial as too 'disgraceful tor publication. .- '~ ; .

■ After distinguishing, himself in an .engagement ; with. the. French. which "is described as, .'.'.perhaps the most dashing and brilliant feat of the. whole Yf.ar" (the War of American Independence, 1775-83), Admiral Kempenfelt had hoisted his flag on the Royal George in April, .1782, and- after its summer.cruise the fleet to which she belonged, anchored .on; the',: 15th August at Spithead, where orders were receiv;ed to refit at ; top speed and sail to the relief o f Gibraltar. , The. sequel scribed' as follows by JV K. Laiighton ™r,H' s >ttlel9 jn iKempenfelt: in .the "Dictionary of National Biography,: rivT^lf % TeW™e> it was necessary to give , the Royal George a slight heel'to water-line. This was done on 29th August side Theß^ 61" gUfaS ,S Ver> the * '«,» ,?•-r\ b?• w*M ld and rotten, and the disturbance of,her weights brought on her crazy structure a-.strdih >hfch it could not stand, With a loud crack it It? t? *5 r?? d } he shili eank almost instantly. (Minutes of the Court Martial?) •-- --:. ;-— >•■•:•-- ..yi*;■*:■« ■»•••:■ • •,■ ;■:

■c- ™?. arti^le in the "D.N.8.". on bir-Philip Durham; who -was officer of lhe^t teh *? the-^me. Laughton adds tnat the-witn^sses were - . : ■

unanimous m their statements that the larboard port sills were a good foot out of the water, and that though there was \ *F-!. at <l eal o£ watep on the lower deck, it-did not come in through the ports. . . ±ne popular story of her being, unduly i^X \™i °f- a 8<l" a11- Btrikin S her while in that situation, is distinctly contradicted by the evidence of qualified observers, given on oath within a few days of the

As to the shocking condition of, the vessel's timbers tho evidence of the •witnesses was confirmed in .a. very striking manner by two members of the Court.

~Plv^ cik the Ge. orge was locked'at Plymouth, said Vice-Admiral Milbank, I md the,honour to command there, and during her being in dock I gave her very constant attendance, saw her,opened, and asked many questions; and found her so bad that I do not recollect theie was a sound timber in the , opening. I asked several of the officers of the jard what the* intended to do with her, and they *5.d they'should be" able'to^raakrher & a Rummer, and very toad she was indeed insomuch that they could scarce find tastemngs for the repairs she underwent

And Captain Sir John Jervis (afterwards Earl St. Vincent) confirmed the Vice-Admiral's statement respecting * the rottenness of -the timbers that were exposed to view in her last docking."

, t Such was the death-trap which the Admiralty would "have sent, to wrestle^ , with .the gales of the-Bay. of Biscay and to engage ;the rrenchjand Spanish . fleets/at: Gibraltar,' if the bottom:had : ao.t'fallen;'out ,bf;;it! 'first:' , We, may l: indeed be thankful .that Cowper 'did '• not7know, the' trutK, for if he ha"d!hor- ' ior >nd shame and indignation" would surely have, "combined-;to -prevent his writing one of the calmest- aha nobiest Jamenta in the language. Not merely the line, < ' Her timbers yet, are Bound;" but the whole substance and spirit of :. the poem^wouia have had to/be, altered. .:,..;, , .'".;■• .. ;■.»! i":' 'V; '■'/'"' '.':

It; Is a remarkable faettigt two such diametrically contrasted-poems as "The' Loss, of the Royal George ■■ and ''The Diverting History of ; = John Gilpin" should . have .beeni produced by -.the same man about : the same time and' possibly :in . the same othonth .(October, 1782). •, It is also : re.markable that the friend who suggest-ed-.them both; should ha.' the,first rcase .'.'have, imposed a condition which was at first regarded by the. poet^ as a'serious handicap, but .was ultimately so hap^pily.aceominbdated'by his-genius to thft' 'theme aa*to' prove.' tho making of the.pieee.ltg full title is so long that the anthologists may perhaps ?.W excused for not finding room for "it all, and of'his three highly conscientious and competent 'editors—Benham, .Bailey,, and • Milford--the last ■ alone gives what appears to bo the complete title: . ''■ ': \ ■ ;..':\ : .- .':.'- .V.... '■ ■■■ : .■• / ON THE LOSS- OF -THE ROYAL . ;. ...GEORGE, -. , / . WRITTEN WHEN THE NEWS ■ ~„;■.;.• ■•:•■■■' .ARRIVED, '■[■:. :.';,:,.;: : By- :desire,-of Lady Austin, who -wanted words to the March in Scipio.; • ' "■' :■'. ■ * '-' ' :;. ''* ' ■"'■'-.'■■■? In a letter, to William tTnwin dated the 4th August, 1873, Cowper. refers as follows to the.: form of the1 poem, the "Latin ode?' which he mentions being his own translation of it:'.- >: ' • I am 'glad you.were v pleased with- my .Latin ode, and indeed with my English dirge,'as much, as-1 was myself. The tune laid me under a disadvantage, obliging me to write in Alexandrines, which I suppose would suit -no ear but a French one; neither did I. intend anything more than that, the. subject • and -the words should be sufficiently accommodated to the music. The ballad is a .species of poetry, I believe, peculiar to'this country equally adapted to the drollest, and the •mostv.tragical-subjects. Simplicity and case -ar,e .its proper characteristics. Our • forefatherß>excelled in it; but we moderns nave lost the art.' .- - Mr. J. C. Bailey seems to : show a want of balance rare in so : admirable a critic when he says:, ; The change to the ' shorter lines, whoever made it, lias certainly the making "of the poem. "•'' ' ; The length of the original, lines was surely no more than a mechanical difficulty which, could not possibly have unmade. such a poem. On the other hand, Mr. Bailey ignores the vital importance of the original division of thepoem into three "stanzas: !-'■'. —~

On 'both 'points Mr.^ Milford 's treat: meht' of the.poem seems 'to me completely satisfactory. ;-, -

The MS. in the British. Museum (from which JEfeyley probably; .printed) is, he sa.YB, .'written in three" six-line ' stanzaß. The' six-line stanza • looks cutribrous :in print,' but the division into" three ttt'elveline stanzas both" adheres more closely to the MS. and displays the triple division of the poem;-fay more- clearly-than' the nine four-line verses into which tall editors, following Hayley, have "divided it It was obviously with intention that

Cowper'closed each of the three stanzas with a recital of the most appalling incident of the disaster—the loss of eight hundred rmen; ; and • ■ the effect of this threefold iteration is lost if the poem is printed in four-line verses.

Correctly, set. out, the poem'reads as follows:—:-.,-. ■

r' Toll for the brave! Tiles brave that are no more! _All sunk'beneath the wave. >' Fast by their native shore! .-■ •Eight hundred; of the brave. \Vhose courage .well was tried, . Had made the'vessel heel ' And.laid her on her.side; .. A land-breeze shook the shrouds, And she was overset; " _ Down went the Royal George,With; all her crew complete. Toll for the .brave! Brave Kempenfelt is gone. His last sea-fight is fought. His work' of glory done.' : It was not in the battle, No tempest gave the shock, o She sprang no- fatalleak, ' She ran upon no rock; ■ . • His -sword was in ; the sheath. His fingers held the pen, \Vhen Kempenfelt went down With twice.four, hundred men.

" Weigh-the vessel up, ' v ■'• On?e-.dreaded by pur foes, ■■■■■'. And-.-mingle with your cup The tears that Enjjland owes; .. •• A Her ( timbers "yet are sound, ' -■'■ And she may float again, ' Full charg"d with England's thunder, And plough the distant main; v But'Kempenfelt is gone, ; : ; ; His victories are o'er; \ ■[■■■■: \ .:" Arid he and his'eight hundred ' Must plough the wave, no more;; :''" #■ . '•'•■ '•'*'■' ;■ .'■-.■ i-: '■ ' : :

-,-j-It has seemed worth while to set out the. whole, of these familiar lines again iri order to show, how much 'they gain from : the poet's own arrangement of them, which Mr.. Mitf ord> has restored, after thelapse of more than a century. Mr. Bailey describes "The Loss of the Royal George" as ■

one of the most famous—perhaps the moat widely, known of all—of the pieces consecrated by English poets to the glory of ouir-'Navy;-;'-'.■'■■■..-.■■.■■■-,■'■-.■■"-■.■.'■■i ■■*■■■*■;■ ■,

Bat he points :put that, in conti-ast with'^ the work of Tennyson and Oampbell,; of Doyle.and Newbolt, .there was no: heroism and no- glory in the -itale- that'r Cowper had to tell, ;-,; :,;.,,.> \x/\

He had, says Mr. Bailey, nothing to help h™ to move us but the awful suddenness ot the fate of eight hundred men. There is no action; the whole position is one purely passive. And he has not the resource of the imagined pel tonality of the ship, dying jn such inglorious silence after braving the roar of a hundred battles; for the ship docs not die, but is weighed up to .float and fight again. Yet what an effect the poet has produced! He has piessed into his service all that seemed most in his way, indeed, all that appeared tnost ineffective; the calm, the security of homo waters, the admiral at his desk, is just what is made to produce the effect. But it is more than that. ♦ • •

-The secret of the success lies in no detail but m the -whole tieatment. few poems many language illustrate better the power of great verse. It wonld be nothing in a paraphrase; it is very little in Cowper's Latin translation. But no sooner have «t n* rich and sonorous opening, Toll for the brave," like the great bell of some cathedral, than we are earned away, and. ,np above ourselves into no ordinary mood. And there the poet keeps us all throngh by his noble and serious simplicity, in no state of rhetorical excitement but rather in that quiet gravity of thought which befits the presence of Death in Life.