Only poem written by Winston Churchill as an adult up for auction
It is signed by Churchill and was written on the headed notepaper of his regiment, the 4th Hussars, in about 1898
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Winston Churchill’s one and only effort at poetry as an adult is to go under the hammer for £15,000.
The wartime leader was a brilliant speechwriter, prolific author and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
Despite being a lover of poetry, only one other poem penned by the former PM has been found and he wrote that as a schoolboy.
Now a 10 verse poem penned over two pages in blue crayon by Churchill while he was in the Army has emerged for sale at auction in London.
It is signed by Churchill and was written on the headed notepaper of his regiment, the 4th Hussars, in about 1898.
Two of the 10 verses of the work entitled ‘Our Modern Watchwords’ read:
Roy Davids, 70, a retired rare manuscript dealer from Great Haseley in Oxfordshire, said: “This is the only poem in Churchill’s handwriting as an adult.
“There is one at Harrow School but that was one he wrote as a boy and it was for a competition.
“I don’t think it’s a bad effort, it is quite competent.
"It is quite rousing stuff and is an imperial celebratory poem that references cities that stretch the British Empire.
“It is interesting that more than 50 years after the death of the most famous Englishman of the 20th century, we are still discovering new aspects of his life.”
Allen Packwood, the director of the Churchill Archive Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge, said: “It is rare to find a piece of poetry by him as an adult.
"I am not aware of any others that exist.”
A spokesman for auctioneers Bonhams said: “The work certainly provides a fascinating extra insight into the life of one of the country’s greatest figures.”
The poem has been given a conservative estimate of £15,000. It will be sold at auction on April 10.
The wartime leader was a brilliant speechwriter, prolific author and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
Despite being a lover of poetry, only one other poem penned by the former PM has been found and he wrote that as a schoolboy.
Now a 10 verse poem penned over two pages in blue crayon by Churchill while he was in the Army has emerged for sale at auction in London.
It is signed by Churchill and was written on the headed notepaper of his regiment, the 4th Hussars, in about 1898.
Two of the 10 verses of the work entitled ‘Our Modern Watchwords’ read:
The shadow falls along the shoreThe poem makes reference to obscure cities under the rule of the British Empire like Wai-hai-wai - Weihai in China.
The search lights twinkle on the sea
The silence of a mighty fleet
Portends the tumult yet to be.
The tables of the evening meal
Are spread amid the great machines
And thus with pride the question runs
Among the sailors and marines
Breathes there the man who fears to die
For England, Home, & Wai-hai-wai.
Roy Davids, 70, a retired rare manuscript dealer from Great Haseley in Oxfordshire, said: “This is the only poem in Churchill’s handwriting as an adult.
“There is one at Harrow School but that was one he wrote as a boy and it was for a competition.
“I don’t think it’s a bad effort, it is quite competent.
"It is quite rousing stuff and is an imperial celebratory poem that references cities that stretch the British Empire.
“It is interesting that more than 50 years after the death of the most famous Englishman of the 20th century, we are still discovering new aspects of his life.”
Allen Packwood, the director of the Churchill Archive Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge, said: “It is rare to find a piece of poetry by him as an adult.
"I am not aware of any others that exist.”
A spokesman for auctioneers Bonhams said: “The work certainly provides a fascinating extra insight into the life of one of the country’s greatest figures.”
The poem has been given a conservative estimate of £15,000. It will be sold at auction on April 10.
丘吉爾成年後「唯一」詩作倫敦拍賣
更新時間 2013年 4月 10日, 星期三 - 格林尼治標準時間14:18
英國前首相丘吉爾二戰時在BBC播音室向全國發表講話。他一戰期間在軍中服役時的一首詩在倫敦拍賣。
英國戰時首相溫斯頓·丘吉爾有很多後人稱道的性格、品味和精神特質，還有不少花邊趣聞，但寫詩通常不在此列。
不過，他成年後寫的一首詩的手稿即將在倫敦拍賣，估計成交價將達15,000英鎊。
這份詩稿是人們已知成年後丘吉爾唯一的詩作。
英國桂冠詩人安德魯·莫遜（Andrew Motion）形容這首詩很「凝重沉穩」。
Our Modern Watchwords 用藍色蠟筆寫在軍用稿紙上，分四段，每段10行，結尾都是一個大英帝國軍隊在海外的駐扎地名，其中包括中國的威海（詩中寫成 Wai-hai-wai），還有尼日利亞城市索科托（Sokoto)。
發現丘吉爾這份詩作手稿的是一位已經退休的手稿經紀人羅伊·戴維茲。
詩歌開頭描寫了夜幕下，陰影籠罩著海岸線，探照燈光在海面逡巡閃爍，威嚴的艦隊的靜默預示著將要爆發的戰亂。
莫遜認為這首詩裏可以看到英國著名詩人奧登（Auden）的影子，而拍賣行伯恩漢姆（Bonhams）指出，其中一行詩句出自蘇格蘭詩人沃爾特·斯考特（Watlter Scott）。
溫斯頓·丘吉爾爵士1895年參軍，先是隨軍去了古巴，次年調到印度。
他在1899年-1900年間參加了「布爾戰爭」（Boer War）。
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