MORRIS (Thomas Linwell).
The Daneid, an Epic Poem, in four Books. Written on board his Majesty’s ship La Desirée.
WRITTEN AT SEA AND SOLD BY THE AUTHOR'S WIDOW
Rare. OCLC/COPAC record physical copies at BL, Newcastle University, Cambridge in the UK; Stanford, UCLA, Harvard Law and Saint Louis University only in the USA. No copies recorded on Rare Book Hub.
A “rude uletter’d seamen’s” poetical description of the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 and written “on board his Majesty’s ship La Desirée”
As the name perhaps suggests, La Desirée was a French frigate which had been captured by the British Royal Navy in 1800 and taken into service. The poem, dedicated to Lord Nelson and, “the mem’ry of an action noble great”, descries the battle in great detail with descriptions on the ships, the locations and the chains of command amongst the Navy. The poem, “sold by the widow of the Author” was presumably intended to raise money for a widow left without support after the death of her husband.
