Mr. Barfield’s
English/ Science
Lions & Tigers
Daily Work – April 5, 2023
SPRING BREAK 4/3/23-4/7/23
3. Felicia Dorothea Hemans, ‘Casabianca’.
The English poet Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835) is best-known for her poem about the stately homes of England (memorably parodied by Noel Coward) and for ‘Casabianca’ with its memorable opening lines, quoted below.
The poem, written in the ballad metre (something it shares with a number of other poems on this list), was inspired by something that happened in the 1798 Battle of the Nile: Giocante, the young son of the commander Louis de Casabianca, remained at his post, unaware that his father was already dead, and … well, you can read the full sorry tale by following the link above.
The boy stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the battle’s wreck,
Shone round him o’er the dead …
