THE
SHIPWRECK
BY
WILLIAM FALCONER
EMBELLISHED WITH ENGRAVINGS
FROM THE DESIGNS OF
RICHᴰ. WESTALL R.A.
R. Westall R.A. del. Chaˢ. Heath fc.
LONDON;
PRINTED FOR JOHN SHARPE, PICCADILLY.
1819.
THE
SHIPWRECK;
BY
WILLIAM FALCONER.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR JOHN SHARPE,
PICCADILLY,
BY C. WHITTINGHAM, CHISWICK.
M DCCC XV III.
The Shipwreck is one of those happy productionsin which talent is seen in so exquisiteadaptation to the nature of the subject, that it isdifficult to determine whether the author is themost indebted to his subject, or the subject tothe author. No one who had not passed throughthe circumstances which Falconer describes,could have painted them as he has done; and ofthe comparatively few who have had the opportunityof drinking in the fearful inspiration ofsuch scenes, and survived to tell of them, Falconeris the first who appears to have possessed thegenius requisite to retain and embody the impression,with the vigour of imagination and thefidelity of memory. It was not more necessary[6]that he should be a poet, than that he should be aseaman. He was eminently both; and the Poemis as perfect in every technical excellence, as itis in respect to the simplicity of its plan, theclassical elegance of its composition, and thepathos of its narrative. It is altogether a uniqueproduction.
Falconer originally designed the Poem, (asappears from an advertisement prefixed to thesecond edition, published in 1764,) for the entertainmentof “the gentlemen of the sea;” buthe complains that they had not formed one tenthof the purchasers. He printed that edition in acheaper form, expressly with a view to render itmore acceptable to the inferior officers. Falconerwas thoroughly the seaman; he was warmlyattached to the profession, and prided himselfmore on his nautical science than on his literarytalents. T