POETIC PROPHECY ?

Evening Star, Issue 23864, 19 April 1941, Page 4

POETIC PROPHECY ?

Tennyson's prophecy in ‘ Locksley Hall,’ where he spoke of “ the nations’ airy navies grappling in < the central blue,” has frequently been quoted in the past year, especially since the skies have “ rain’d a ghastly dew.” Now another remarkable bit has been translated from Thomas Gray’s Latin poem, ‘ Luna Habitabilis,’ by the London ‘ Times ’:

The time will come when thou shaft lift thine eyes To watch a long-drawn battle in the skies, While aged peasants, too amazed for words, Stare at the flying fleets of wondrous birds. . . .

England, so' long the mistress of the sea. Where winds and waves confess her sovereignty Her ancient triumphs yet on high shall bear, And reign, the sovereign of the conquered air.

Gray had just turned 21 when he penned these lines in 1737. Between the quoted stanzas the poet spoke of a day coming when the moon would be colonised, and said the British would get there first. It was a day of imperial ambition. The significance of the verses to-day. however, lies chiefly in the final reference—a situation which the gallant R.A.F. have brought about over Britain, and may yet extend to the Continent, with the aid of American-made planes. ‘ Christian Science Monitor.’