Classic Poem

Nelson's Pillar, at Yarmouth

WRITTEN BY THE SEA-SIDE ON A LOWERING EVENING .

There is a gloomy grandeur in the sun,
That levels his last light along the shore;
The clouds are rolling downwards stern and dun;
The long, slow wave is streak'd with red, like gore
On some vast field of battle; and the roar
Of wave and wind comes like the battle's sound.
From Ocean's depths a column seems to soar,
A shaft of silver, on whose summit, wound
With fiery beams, sits Britain sad, and throned, and crown'd!

And now the sun sinks deeper; and the clouds,
In folds of sullen fire, still heavier lour;
'Till the whole storm the shore and ocean shrouds.
But o'er the tempest glows that stately tower,
A giant height, on which the sunbeams shower
Their undiminish'd glories. N ELSON'S name
Is on the column. Thus the battle's hour
But show'd the splendour of his spirit's flame,
Thus till earth's final night shall blaze the Hero's fame.English