DEATH OF NELSON

 (Benjamin West 1738-1820 – Walker Gallery, Liverpool)

 

 Some think victory complete

 Raising hats celebrating,

 But others huddled solemnly

 Around the pale figure

 Know death is waiting,

 That he only lingers awhile

 To say farewell and to savour

 A little of the triumph.

 

 In the background a confusion

 Of sails and streaming signals,

 Billowing clouds of gun smoke,

 Blasted timbers hanging

 Above precarious platforms

 And the sad, small people

 Whose own dying moments

 Go quietly unnoticed.

 

David Subacchi