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Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson poem for kids by Lesley Stobbs Long ago there lived a boy, Horatio was his name. He sailed his boat on a lake it was his favourite game He even had a dream that one day he'd go to sea And be a famous admiral with a famous Victory. He had many brothers and sisters, seven altogether. They had pretend battles with their boats when they had nice weather. One boat belonged to Horatio, and one to his brother; 'The England' was Horatio's, 'The Frog' was the other. One sunny morning they were all out having fun, Playing English against the Frogs, the battle had begun. Horatio gave a speech to his crew, it was a thing of beauty, He said ‘England expects that every man will do his duty’. The English rowed towards the Frogs, there would be no mistake Then crashed into the enemy and tipped them in the Lake. The Frogs were soaking wet, there was nothing they could do. "Hip Hip Hooray for Horatio!" said the English crew. Horatio was pleased and said "I'm really very clever, Those Frogs will never beat me, never ever ever. I could even beat them with my arm behind my back. I'll even close one eye, and still win the attack!" Just then there was a voice, shouting in the distance. "Dinner time, come home now kids!" it was spoken with insistence. Horatio heard the voice, it was his mother he supposed. He put a telescope to the eye he had just closed. "I cannot see anyone around, perhaps we imagined the call" But then he felt quite hungry, so went home after all. Horatio laughed at his brother as the family ate their dinner. He wanted everyone to know that England had been the winner. "We won" said Horatio, "it's really plain to see. In fact, I am going to rename my boat- The Victory!" That night when Horatio fell asleep, he had a vivid dream That he was fully grown up and an admiral supreme. He had a ship called Victory and he was the commander He was sailing off to battle, to a place called Trafalgar. He thought about his dream next morning when he woke. He wanted to be a hero, adored by common folk. One day he would be famous for his genius and flair, And honoured with a massive statue, in Trafalgar Square. Horatio Nelson did come from a big family (but did not really play "English vs Frogs" with his brothers and sisters). It is true that he was vain and attention-seeking, but he was also brave, inspirational, and tactically brilliant. He lost an eye and an arm in combat, and one time he famously ignored an order to retreat by putting the telescope to his blind eye, and claiming he could not see the signal. He won many battles for the English in the Napoleonic wars, but it was the battle of Trafalgar, in which he was killed, that was perhaps the most comprehensive and important English victory of all time, and a massive setback to Napoleon. A statue of Horatio Nelson stands over 50m high in Trafalgar Square London to this day. Back to British History from Horatio Nelson
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