St Helena
James Montgomery
St. Helena's dungeon-keep
Scowls defiance o'er the deep;
There a warrior's relics sleep.
Who he was, and how he fell,
Europe, Asia, Afric tell:
On that theme all time shall dwell.
But henceforth, till nature dies,
These three simple words comprise
All the future: "Here he lies."
These stanzas are an extract from the long poem A Voyage Round the World.
The warrior of course is Napoleon, who was exiled to this remote island of the British Empire after his defeat at Waterloo. Napoleon is mentioned in most poems about the remote island of St. Helena.
