The Fighting Temeraire [SEP] creator
The Fighting Temeraire
The Fighting Temeraire, tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 is an oil painting by the English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner, painted in 1838 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1839.
The painting depicts the 98-gun HMS "Temeraire", one of the last second-rate ships of the line to have played a distinguished role in the Battle of Trafalgar, being towed by a paddle-wheel steam tug towards its final berth in Rotherhithe in south-east London in 1838
fate of the great sailing warships. Turner's painting created an enduring interest in the story of "Temeraire" and several poems appeared in the decades following her breaking up. Gerald Massey wrote "The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth", Herman Melville produced "The Temeraire", and Henry Newbolt wrote "The Fighting Temeraire", with its closing lines Now the sunset's breezes shiver,brAnd she's fading down the river,brBut in England's song forever,brShe's the Fighting Temeraire.
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