POEMS
The
Colossus
By
Todd Stevens
Colossus
was a warship;
-alacrity her boast,
-and she sailed with Admirals colours raised
- t’ blockade the Spanish coast.
The
inshore squadron was her duty,
-the swift and sure with this were graced,
-beside Orion, Theseus and Bellerophon,
-Colossus took her pride of place.
In
action at the Ile de Groix,
- her guns roared the short divide,
-and playing heartily aloft,
her piper’s rally filled the sky.
Amidst
the fray where yard arms clashed,
-and men fought eye to eye,
-with guns run out and flames unleashed,
-they let the iron fly.
When
Aboukir was over
- and escort duty was the task,
-she was loaded beneath Vesuvius,
-with Greek antiquities from the past.
A course
set for dear old England,
-and men climbed among the shrouds,
and where billowing the sails aloft,
-they strive to emulate the clouds.
She
beat her way across Biscay,
and the stormy channel home,
-better days the grand ol’ ship had seen,
- Oaken walls a- creakin in the foam.
If
she’d not met with disastrous end,
-by Southard Well opon rollin’ maine,
-repaired at dear old blighty,
-they would’ve set her sails again.
Her
demise was more romantic,
-her name in history was etched,
- she and her cargo to the bottom went
-and became a total wreck.
Tho’
think of her as she once was,
- stretched afore a rushing blast,
-with pennon flapping high aloft,
and many men before the mast.
Percieve
Roman God Apollo,
-with outstretched arm upon her bow;
victorious the crown held in his hand,
-tho’ he’s gone, forever, now.
By
Todd Stevens
Ancient
sailors of Greece harboured respect,
-for Poseidon great God of the sea,
-who with trident aloft could summon the Ocean,
-to bend to his will and his need.
His
kingdom was a vast -two thirds of the world,
-where he ruled in the depths all alone,
-with mermaids as disciples and council at court,
-to tend to his undersea throne.
Fine
wares they were stolen from his people above,
-on Man‘o’War Colossus that sailed,
-so he followed below and bided his time,
-‘til his anger from the abyss could prevail.
From
Naples to Lisbon two seas had been crossed,
-guarding the convoy that she had in tow.
Colossus crank ship was battered and weary
-tho’ still had a long way to go.
The
ship ran for Scilly to escape the wrath of the Gods,
-from who’s tempest there was no place to hide,
-but evasion was futile and retribution swift,
-as Poseidon closed in on the tide.
Under
her forefoot the divinity pushed the great ship,
-in the direction of old Southward Well.
The cable then parted and the bower it dragged,
-through an anchorage of sand and of shell.
Over
800 souls climbed aloft in the rigging;
-as Santa Warna now joined in the fray.
Murray knew all was lost by the lee shore of Samson,
-but made sure all the men got away.
In
a foaming white sea and bumping on rock,
-she healed over and soon broke her back,
Her guns all fell through and the ballast came down,
-crushing antique vases under the stack.
An
ancient world it had judged upon the Colossus,
-for taking its treasures away,
-using the granite of Samson to smash the ship to a pulp,
-and to an elderly Ambassador’s dismay.
Sir
William’s hopes and collection were gambled that day,
-tho’ both were dashed under the guns.
The ship it was Nelson’s and now so was Bill’s wife,
-leaving Hamilton without companion nor funds.
Battered
by sea and eaten by worms,
-crabs and lobsters now walked on her deck,
-and salvage men came to fish up all they could,
-before kelp scaffs closed over the wreck.
Time
it moved on and mans progress was slow,
-in conquering the undersea land,
-and Colossus was left to old father time,
-who covered her with rocks and with sand.
As
centuries pass and the wreck was forgotten,
-or so deity Poseidon believed,
-but now divers step in where mermaids once swam,
-to see the Colossus lost treasures retrieved.