“IN HONOUR I GAINED
THEM”
Take a look one day
into the London sky,
There’s a statue
staring out with resolute eye.
Proudly stood atop
a great pillar in Trafalgar Square,
That’s my Hero Lord
Horatio Nelson standing there.
In life he may have
been a petulant, slightly built man,
But he had the will
of iron and tenacity to lead the van.
Agamemnon the aged warrior, in which he shared
the spoils,
Dashed headlong
into conflict, with her billowing royals.
His favourite ship,
a veteran with guns totalling sixty four,
Licked her wounds
and went back for more
Blasted sand and
grit took his eye in Calvi, Corsica,
Avenged, when the Ca
Ira was taken in the Battle of Genoa.
Losing an arm at
Santa Cruz, a head wound at the Nile,
Hiding behind the
uniform was never “Our Nels” style.
The Battle of
Copenhagen, Hyde Parker issued a retreat cry,
Nelson took a
telescope and placed it to his blind eye.
“I really do not see the signal” so his
squadron led the way,
Leading his brave
men from the front, Nelson won the day.
When Horatio raised
his flag on Victory, ‘Old Boney’ on land held might,
The Franco-Spanish
fleet were amassed, spoiling for a fight.
This mighty force under
Admiral Villeneuve, the odds were surely stacked,
On October 21st
1805 at 4am, Nelsons heavily outnumbered fleet attacked.
The most famous
signal broke to the wind for every ‘Jack Tar’ to view.
“England
expects every man to do his duty” cheered heartily by the crew.
The Battle of
Trafalgar, the day that Nelson defied all odds,
But he paid with
his life, shot through from ‘Redoutables’ gods.
A hush fell over
the bloody, torn and tattered scene from hell,
Hardened pressed men and officers alike,
prayed for the soul of ‘Nel’.
“In
honour I gained them, and in honour I’ll die with them”
Never in England’s
history will we see his like again.
He flouted his private
life, his reputation badly flawed,
But, to the common
man, he was Godlike and rightly adored.
The burial at St
Pauls was attended by the wealthy few,
Yet millions
watched in tears outside, all wanting to be his crew.
The most poignant
moment at the time that Nelson died,
Was Agamemnon all
battered and scarred, sailed near to his side.
His favourite ship
wept tears of blood, her cannon roared, belching fire,
The world’s biggest
ship Santisima Trinidad surrendered to her ire.
Two hundred years
plus have passed since Nelson passed away,
In London, Birmingham and Bridgetown you
can see him everyday.
God bless you
always Lord Nelson, Admiral of the van,
The true hero of
Albion, the greatest ever Englishman.
Phil Hall March 2013
