II.
Reading edition
Lambkin’s Newdigate
POEM WRITTEN FOR “NEWDIGATE PRIZE” IN ENGLISH VERSE
By J. A. Lambkin, Esq., of Burford College
N.B.—[The competitors are confined to the use of Rhymed Heroic Iambic Pentameters, but the introduction of Lyrics is permitted]
Subject: “THE BENEFITS CONFERRED BY SCIENCE, ESPECIALLY IN CONNECTION WITH THE ELECTRIC LIGHT”
For the benefit of those who do not care to read through the Poem but desire to know its contents, I append the following headings:
Invocation to the Muse
Hail! Happy Muse, and touch the tuneful string! The benefits conferred by Science[10] I sing.
His theme: the Electric Light and its benefits
Under the kind Examiners’[11] direction I only write about them in connection With benefits which the Electric Light Confers on us; especially at night. These are my theme, of these my song shall rise. My lofty head shall swell to strike the skies,[12] And tears of hopeless love bedew the maiden’s eyes.
Second Invocation to the Muse
Descend, O Muse, from thy divine abode,
Osney
To Osney, on the Seven Bridges Road; For under Osney’s solitary shade The bulk of the Electric Light is made. Here are the works, from hence the current flows Which (so the Company’s prospectus goes)
Power of Works there
Can furnish to Subscribers hour by hour No less than sixteen thousand candle power,[13] All at a thousand volts. (It is essential To keep the current at this high potential In spite of the considerable expense.)
Statistics concerning them
The Energy developed represents, Expressed in foot-tons, the united forces Of fifteen elephants and forty horses. But shall my scientific detail thus Clip the dear wings of Buoyant Pegasus?
Poetical or Rhetorical questions
Shall pure statistics jar upon the ear That pants for Lyric accents loud and clear? Shall I describe the complex Dynamo Or write about its commutator? No!
The Theme changes
To happier fields I lead my wanton pen, The proper study of mankind is men.
Third Invocation to the Muse
Awake, my Muse! Portray the pleasing sight That meets us where they make Electric Light.
A picture of the Electrician
Behold the Electrician where he stands: Soot, oil, and verdigris are on his hands; Large spots of grease defile his dirty clothes, The while his conversation drips with oaths. Shall such a being perish in its youth? Alas! it is indeed the fatal truth. In that dull brain, beneath that hair unkempt, Familiarity has bred contempt. We warn him of the gesture all too late; Oh, Heartless Jove! Oh, Adamantine Fate!
His awful fate
Some random Touch—a hand’s imprudent slip— The Terminals—a flash—a sound like “Zip!” A smell of Burning fills the startled Air— The Electrician is no longer there!
He changes his Theme
But let us turn with true Artistic scorn From facts funereal and from views forlorn Of Erebus and Blackest midnight born.[14]
Fourth Invocation to the Muse
Arouse thee, Muse! and chaunt in accents rich The interesting processes by which The Electricity is passed along: These are my theme, to these I bend my song.
Description of method by which the Current is used
It runs encased in wood or porous brick Through copper wires two millimetres thick, And insulated on their dangerous mission By indiarubber, silk, or composition, Here you may put with critical felicity The following question: “What is Electricity?”
Difficulty of determining nature of Electricity
“Molecular Activity,” say some, Others when asked say nothing, and are dumb. Whatever be its nature: this is clear, The rapid current checked in its career, Baulked in its race and halted in its course[15] Transforms to heat and light its latent force:
Conservation of Energy. Proofs of this: no experiment needed
It needs no pedant in the lecturer’s chair To prove that light and heat are present there. The pear-shaped vacuum globe, I understand, Is far too hot to fondle with the hand. While, as is patent to the meanest sight, The carbon filament is very bright.
Doubts on the Municipal system, but—
As for the lights they hang about the town, Some praise them highly, others run them down. This system (technically called the arc) Makes some passages too light, others too dark.
None on the Domestic
But in the house the soft and constant rays Have always met with universal praise.
Its advantages
For instance: if you want to read in bed No candle burns beside your curtains’ head, Far from some distant corner of the room The incandescent lamp dispels the gloom,
Advantages of large Print
And with the largest print need hardly try The powers of any young and vigorous eye.
Fifth Invocation to the Muse
Aroint thee, Muse! inspired the poet sings! I cannot help observing future things!
The only hope of Humanity is in Science
Life is a vale, its paths are dark and rough Only because we do not know enough. When Science has discovered something more We shall be happier than we were before.
Peroration in the spirit of the rest of the Poem
Hail! Britain, mistress of the Azure Main, Ten Thousand Fleets sweep over thee in vain! Hail! mighty mother of the brave and free, That beat Napoleon, and gave birth to me! Thou that canst wrap in thine emblazoned robe One quarter of the habitable globe. Thy mountains, wafted by a favouring breeze, Like mighty hills withstand the stormy seas.
Warning to Britain
Thou art a Christian Commonwealth. And yet Be thou not all unthankful—nor forget As thou exultest in Imperial might The benefits of the Electric Light.