Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1865-01-27
Stul!8eeklq 5tnnhprh.
COWPER's POEM ON THE LOSS OF THE
ROYAL GEORGE.

CoWPER's E9EM ON THE Loss OF THE
ROYAL GEORGE.
1t was towards the close of Cowper's
life, at the time when that settled gloom
by which his declining years were so Bit
Sery oppressed, had taken hold upon him,
that the POEM referred to in the heading
OF this story was written. The circum-
stances attending its composition present
one of THO most curious and interesting OF
psychological phenomena that we have
ever heard of, or that can well be imagin-
cd, nalIely, that mind-apparently I'M
conscious of one set of impressions, wheth-.
er BY an effort of will or otherwise-may
hnsp6used to intense action by another set
Gmpressions, totally distinct from them,
= as far as actual occurrence is Concerned
The dark season of Cowper's calamit
was at its height. The morning of the
Ioa which the incidents about t. be rel:
took place, was dreary, cold, and dull:
chilling mist, which filled the air
succeeded by drizzling rain, max
nature both cherries and dismal.
ly miserable, Cowper was hastily
lis room backwards and forwards, NJ
state of extreme agitation and distress, the
ing that deeper darkness and gloom within
him, by which his mind was so heavily
weighed down. He was humming to
himself the air of Handers March IN Sci
p5O, his steps keeping time to the music,
while his thoughts were no doubt busily
occupied in brooding over his own utter
wretchedness.
Suddenly his door flew open, and in
rushed lady, holding in her hand an
open newspaper, in which she had inst
been reading the account of the loss of the
Royal George Greatly excited at the
> melancholy news, she exclaimed: o Mr..
Cowper! have you heard of the dreadful
accident which has happenedl The Royal
George has gone down into the sea with
eight hundred men on board, and every
soul has persisted !" Cowper, wrapped up
in his own reflections, paid no attention
either to her or her story, but continued
to walk on backwards and forwards, hum
ing the air of the March in ScipiO, and
keeping time to the music with his feet.
Who this lady was, we are not able to
state. 1t is not likely that she was one of
those who were intimately acquainted
with the state of Cowper's mind at that
time, and who with such UNMARRIED tender
ness were particularly cautious never to
suffer any news To reach him which they
thought might excite him, or increase that
melancholy they so anxiously endeavored
to soothe and alleviate.
The catastrophe, as may we'll be imagin-
ed, appeared to her very fearful one, and
hence she wondered at his not being NOV
ed by it. Thinking that perhaps he had
hoord what eb bod told li,, h. m
peated the account in fuller detail, dwell
Kempenfelt add his whole crew of eight
hundred men had entirely persisted. Still
Cowper took not the least notice, only he
paced his room more rapidly, hummed his
air more loudly, and kept time to the
march with his feet more vigorously
Hence she concluded that he was deter
mined not TO listen to her, and therefore
left the room. Nevertheless, though Cow
per had manifested no sign that the mel
ancholy news had produced any impress
sion on him, he was deeply affected. The
story had, as the sequel will show, reach
ed his mind, but it had not yet touched
his heart. Though he abounded to over
flowing with sympathy for the distress of
others, so much was he absorbed in his
own misery, that he was entirely carried
away for the time by it. His mind was
struggling for very existence; he himself
was in agony, just on the verge of des-
pair. At that instant the bell of the church
close by began to toll for funeral. The
unexpected sound, and the solemnity of the
associations connected with it, wrought
sudden change in him. Each stroke, as it
doomed forth, was to him like the thrust
of sword. The chord that united him
to his fellow-man was now reached, and
vibrated to the touch. His heart was
ready to burst; full to OVERLOOKING with
his own misery; full of the air fro1, Han
del's March, which he had been hummiIg
to himself to relieve that misery; full of
now he knew every word of it, so through
~ had it become fixed on his mind and,
lastly, full of grief for the eight hundred
brave men, most of them warriors, who
had thus suddenly persisted without mo-
lnents warning, not on the stormy ocean,
not on foreign shore, not by horrors of
war, but in harbor, at home, while tbeir
ship was at anchor, and they all busily
employed at their ordinary work in time
Of peace. Reused to state of intense
excitement, he conld restrain himself no
longer, but seized pen, rushed to the
fireplace, grasped the bell-rope, and held
1t firmly, as if 10 stop the tolIing without,
which appeared to cause him such unut-
terable anguish; and in that state, with
the rope in one hand and the pen in the
other, he gave vent to his feelings in these
deeply solemn and exquisite lines:
Toll for the brave!
The brave that are no moreI
All sunk beneath the wave,
Fast by their native shore!
Eight hundred of the brave,
Whose course we'll was tried