The Boy stood on the Burning Deck

The Boy stood on the Burning Deck is a Victorian poem by Elizabeth Bishop. To modern ears it is cheesy and melodramatic but was incredibly popular for at least 100 years after it was written in 1950. It commemorates the destruction of the french flagship L'Orient in the battle of the Nile. L'Orient was a huge ship by the standards of the day and was much bigger and better armed than anything in Nelson's fleet. It could only be tackled by two warships from either side with any chance of success. The French sailors were skillful and experienced and there is no reason to doubt that they were the equal of the English so this duel was both deadly and key to the outcome of the battle. In the event, the English succeeded in setting alight to it. Hence the burning deck from which all had to flee. But despite the flames the French gunners heroically stayed at their posts to continue firing. Amongst the officers in charge below decks at this moment was a Captain Casabianca, whose 9 year old son was also part of the crew. But despite the bravery of the crew, a magazine deep in the ship was ignited causing a huge explosion. The noise was so loud it was heard in Alexandria 25 miles away. The shock was so great the battle paused for 30 minutes while the very few survivors were rescued. The hardened sailors of the two fleets were hardly mild mannered men so this shows just how huge a calamity it was. The story grew up that the English sailors had seen a small boy on the burning deck of the doomed vessel shortly before it blew up. From these facts the story of a boy refusing to abandon his post without the permission of his father grew up. From this story the poem was written. Tolkien would certainly have known the poem well when he was growing up. The interesting thing is just how Tolkienesque the theme of this poem is. The boy prefers death in the flames to disobeying his father. Think of Beregond and his cruel dilemma when Denethor wanted to be burnt along with Faramir. There is the conflict between obeying orders and common sense. And there is the fire playing a prominent part. It doesn't seem too far fetched to think that Tolkien had this poem somewhere in the back of his mind when he was writing this bit of the Lord of the Rings?