[plate iii, illustrating the poem] 'our fathers' [1913] by captain ronald a. Hopwood, rn
bears plate number iii, bottom left, and is part of a set comprising paf2157-paf2161. The sailing ship images represent vessels of the elizabethan period, reflecting the allusions to drake, hawkins and frobisher in the text. The others comprise a wooden-stocked admiralty-pattern anchor, a small (and presumably) warship of the first world war period capsized onto its port side, with rescue being effected from a boat, and an exhausted royal naval lieutenant commander seated at a table with his head restiing on his forearm - probably asleep - in the middle of writing a casualty report. For further information on the poem see paf2157. The text on this plate runs (with the 1916 punctuation):
but in truth our simple fathers were unlearned kind of men,
and their strokes, although courageous, were unsuited to the pen;
so they chose the weaker weapon for their most successful hits,
till the keenness of its temper was reflected in their wits. Far away the friendly dockyard that their offspring now expect,
kindly barnacles protected one enormous "pink" defect;
till in some secluded corner of the hostile spanish main,
they had beached, and scraped, and caulked her, and were off to sea again. On the anvil of their duty, hawkins, frobisher, and drake
forged traditions of the service for the use of robert blake,
who adopted them in toto with the silence of his breed,
and bequeathed to his successors, fully proved and guaranteed. Now, there may be "too much nelson," for the times have changed since then,
but as long as man is human we shall have to count on men;
though machines be ne'er so perfect, there may come a day, perhaps,
when you find out just how helpless is a heap of metal scraps. So the man, machine-ly treated, and whose hopes are fast aground
in the "proper service channels," where the broken hearts are drowned,
when he's strained will fracture badly, and be crippled, mind and limb
you may try to join the pieces, but you'll get no help from him. In an age of swift invention it is frequently believed
that the pressure of a button is as good as work achieved;
but the optimist inventor should remember, if he can,
though the instrument be perfect, there are limits to the man. Date: circa 1917. Dimensions: Sheet: 368 x 256 mm; Mount: 557 x 405 mm. Collection: Fine art.
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