Nelson's Pillar. George Croly (1780-1860). Yarmouth. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. England: Vols. I-IV

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.

Yarmouth

Nelson’s Pillar

George Croly (1780–1860)


THERE is a gloomy splendor in the sun,
That levels his last beam along the shore;
The clouds are rolling downwards stern and dun;
The long, slow wave is streaked with red, like gore
On some vast field of battle; and the roar	5
Of wave and wind comes like the battle’s sound.
From the sea’s verge a column seems to soar,
A shaft of silver, on whose summit, wound
With golden beams, sits Britain’s Image, throned and crowned!

And now the sun sinks deeper; and the clouds,	10
In folds of purple fire, still heavier lower;
Till sudden storm the shore and ocean shrouds.
But o’er the darkness glows that stately tower,
A giant height, on which the sunbeams shower
Their undiminished glories. Nelson’s name	15
Is on the column. Thus the battle’s hour
But showed the splendor of his spirit’s flame,
Thus in earth’s final light shall blaze the hero’s fame.