Disaster! Scene In A Cornish Fishing Village
(From Walter Langley’s painting…)
A woman lingers,
Hands clasped upon a cheek,
In utter disbelief
Behind a wiry, stooping crone
Clutching a sea-sprayed shawl,
Her crooked fingers bare,
Lamenting in abject grief.
A fisherman bellows,
Hands cupped against his cheeks,
Amongst the strife
On dour, worn steps of stone,
Clinging to hope in winter’s squall,
His impotence now a doleful stare,
In dread of loss of life.
And a child into her mother’s apron weeps
Tears of loss for a shared fatality.
And a parent into grim acceptance creeps:
Of their lives descending into futility…
Pete Ray
19th August 2022
In 1888 Langley was shocked by the desperation of many Cornish folks, who were struggling with a shortage of fish to catch at the time and indeed, often couldn’t afford to buy bread.
The painting was completed in 1889…
