The Lists On Newlyn Quay…
1884:
Even the weather seems dismal
As the fishing community mills around,
Horrified and for their losses weeping.
Disaster has once again affected
The lives of those left ashore,
Like the afflicted vessel, now wrecked.
The crowd becomes peripheral,
The list, scanned without a sound,
Holds all the attention, its power seeping
Into folks’ minds with grief infected.
And for families and friends stranded ashore,
Like the afflicted vessel, their lives too are wrecked…
She makes a cautious, initial approach,
For the discomfiting, impending
And helpless feeling of doom
Has rendered her ability even to hope,
Redundant.
The final, timid and involuntary steps,
Hesitant,
Are taken towards the hand-written list,
Which upon her future will likely encroach:
She scans the names of the missing,
The feared drowned, the already dead
Until his name screams at her like a siren,
Confirming her man perished, the inevitable dread…
1917:
Once again the weather is dismal
As the fishing community gathers around,
Distraught about their losses and weeping.
Distress has again affected
The lives of those left ashore,
Like a sunken warship, now wrecked.
Others there become peripheral,
The list, read with barely a sound,
Commands all attention, its truth creeping
Into folks’ minds with grief blighted.
And for loved ones stranded upon an English shore,
Like corpses in trenches, their lives too are wrecked…
She once again makes a cautious approach,
The uncomfortable, disturbing
And hopeless feeling of gloom
Has again rendered her capability to hope,
Insignificant.
The final, knowing and hurtful steps,
Reminiscent
Of a lifetime ago and another list,
Which forced her the world to reproach…
She scours the names of the missing
In action, the captured and the dead,
Until a name yells at her like a siren,
Announcing her son perished, the ultimate dread…
Pete Ray
1st July 2022
The work of Walter Langley is currently being shown at the Penlee Gallery, Penzance…
The above painting ‘Among the Missing- Scene in a Cornish Fishing Village, 1884’ refers to a lost fishing vessel and Langley painted a crowd of folks milling about near a list of the seamen missing at the local post office.
Langley had apparently been adversely affected by the loss of the lugger ‘Jane’ in 1880 off Mousehole, when six men and a boy died…
Looking at the distressed woman, possibly mourning her husband, I wondered whether a similar situation might have arisen during
World War I.
Perhaps the same woman, then around fifty years of age might have returned to another list to find out about her son’s fate, who was maybe missing too…
