Fireworks in litterature and poetry

[copper acetoarsenite]

I have a very old and rare book called 'A History of Fireworks' written by Alan St. Hill Brock-of the great Brock's Fireworks and in it he begins each chapter with a quote or poem regarding fireworks---I'll put a few below, but I was wondering if anyone has written or know of any poems or songs or anything else with fireworks as the theme...even Katy Perry's song...'Firework

Here's a few:

"What are fireworks like?" she [The Princess] had asked the Prince, one morning, as she was walking on the terrace."They are like the Aurora Borealis," said the King "...only much more natural. I prefer them to stars myself, as you always know when they are going to appear..."
Oscar wilde, The Remarkable Rocket

To set the rabble on a flame, and keep their governors from blame. disperse the news the pulpit tells, confirmed with fireworks and with bells. Samuel Butler Hudibras, part III (1678)

Oh, why do the myriad stars fall like rainTwhen there is no wind to blow? They are the fireworks that have burst in the sky. Oh, what thunders are those we hear on earth when the sky is clear? they are the shouts of joy and revelry of the people gathered here.
The Story of Yone Noguchi (told by himself,1914)

"...and what with being blowed out of winder, case-filling at the fireworks business, I'm ugly enough to be made a show on!"
Charles Dickens, Bleak House, Chapter XXVI (1853)

That's just a few for now...I'd love to see more examples though...

thankyou

[displayfireworks1]

I wrote a poem about an overload 1.4 Roman Candle I purchased for $2.50. I have a little video to go with it. The poem is me grieving the passing of the last one. The poem is titled
Requiem for an Overload

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf4LMojBteU
.


Five shots in the air your audible ring.
For $2.50 each is was a good thing.
The C.P.S.C has frowned upon thee.
But we shouted with glee because we did not see 1.3
Your identities disguised but know to me.
Your days are now passed unfortunately.

Soon one will come to take your place.
To shoot in our yards in each and every state.
To live in the void and never revealed.
Smuggled and sold to give us a thrill.
We search thee out at every stand.
But usually find you in the back of a van.
Rest in peace now my friend.
You secret life has now come to end.

[copper acetoarsenite]

Very nice poem!, what did that poor candle do to deserve such abuse?...RIP :-(

Here's a few more from Brock's book---since I hate typing due to my slight dyslexia---I'll only put two or three at a time, as I become overwhelmed by typing after a while...

And Catherine wheels, and crowns and names, Of great men whizzing in blue flames; Lights like smiles of hope; And radiant, fiery palaces. Showing the tops of all the trees, And Blackmore on the rope!
The London Magazine (1824)

...Flames o' fire...sometimes plue and sometimes red.
Henry V, act iii, scene 6


I rapturously applauded the Maroons and Balloons, the Saucisons and Asteroids, and Magnesium lights (which Mrs. Malaprop, near whom I had the honor of sitting, would call Sausages and Asterisks and Magnesia), the Cascades and Fountains, the Comets and Rockets, the Batteries and Salvoes, the Temples and the Palm Trees, and all the rest of the successful splendours achieved by Mr. Brock, who seems fired by a noble sky aspiring ambition constantly to surpass himself.
Punch, July 24, 1869

[copper acetoarsenite]

Here are a few more...although I have written some poems myself...I have not yet been inspired enough to write one on fireworks yet...maybe I should do one called 'me and H3' -which is what I used to use as a booster, had to get up early like a rooster...although I would avoid mixing it with BP now like I used to...I took the risk of course to get good symmetry, oh me and H3, and a result I'm lucky to still be...there I did it!!! lol

Here's a few more from Mr. Brocks lovely book
from his chapter on 'Military pyrotechny to 1900'

And that is was a great pity, so it was, this villanous saltpeter should be digg'd out of the bowels of the harmless earth, which many a good tall fellow had destroyed so cowardly;....
Henry IV, Part I act i, scene 3


...there were other treats which I preferred...Sometimes we would be permitted to stay up to see the fireworks which accompanied "Gala Nights" at the Spa, and from the windows of the Lodge would watch the rockets proffering their golden or tinsel-starred bouquets towards the empty and uncaring heavens, the lines of their stalks, before they burst into flowers, momentarily incised in gold upon the darkness.
Sir Robert Sitwell, Left Hand, Right Hand 1945

[tarkus4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPOTQBEe2eA

[Backyard Pyro]

Loved the poem Dave could'nt have said it any better lol. RIP Overload
.
I wrote a poem about an overload 1.4 Roman Candle I purchased for $2.50. I have a little video to go with it. The poem is me grieving the passing of the last one. The poem is titled
Requiem for an Overload

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf4LMojBteU



Five shots in the air your audible ring.
For $2.50 each is was a good thing.
The C.P.S.C has frowned upon thee.
But we shouted with glee because we did not see 1.3
Your identities disguised but know to me.
Your days are now passed unfortunately.

Soon one will come to take your place.
To shoot in our yards in each and every state.
To live in the void and never revealed.
Smuggled and sold to give us a thrill.
We search thee out at every stand.
But usually find you in the back of a van.
Rest in peace now my friend.
You secret life has now come to end.

[copper acetoarsenite]

I have a good friend in Oklahoma...perhaps I can use that firecracker song to get me some of those hot midwestern chicks...lol

[copper acetoarsenite]

...A few more quots from Brock's book
From his chapter 'military pyrotechny from 1900
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes...
The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremeble
Henry IV, part I, act iii, scene I

From 'Essential fireworks'
Or-for I have some mechanic skill-
To make a grasshopper with wings of steel
And launch myself by quick succeding fires,
Saltpetre-fed, to the stars' pastures blue!
Edmond Rostand Cyrano de Bergerac, scene II (1898)

from 'The Development of Firework Manufacture'
...And where the white garments of Madame somebody [Hengler]
(we forget her name now), who nobly devoted her life to the manufacture of fireworks, had so often been seen fluttering in the wind, as she called up red, blue and parti-coloured light to illuminate her temple!
Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz (1836)

that's enough for today :D

[copper acetoarsenite]

Now that I'm able to drag myself away from the displays in the international section...I'd like to add some more quotes...I think I'm done nearly done with quotes from Alan St. Hill Brock's book..this was my first book on fireworks, my second was Plimpton's work from him I learned about Shimizu, Lancaster and pyrotechica...I now have read all of Dr. Shimizu's works except one, Hanabi...His first...
From his chapter 'Traditional fireworks festival'
H.M.S fox, Baffin bay, Lat 75 N., Nov. 5, 1857
In order to vary our monotonous routine, we determined to celebrate the day;...a well got up procession sallied forth, marched round the ship...and then proceded to burn the effigy of Guy Fawkes. their blackened faces, extravagnt costumes, flaring torches, and savage yells frightened away all the dogs; nor was it till after the fireworks were set off and the traitor consumed that they crept back again.
Captain McClintock, RN, LL.D., The fate of Franklin (1859)

Also from that chapter in describing Guy Fawkes day
To every branch a torch they tie,
To every torch a light apply,
At each new light send forth huzzas,
Till all the tree is in a blaze;
And then bear it flaming through the town
With minselsy, and rocket thrown.

From the chapter the 'Pleasure Gardens'

I well remember my grandmother taking me to through this passage to Marylebone Gardens, to see the fireworks and thinking them prodigiously grand.
J.T Smith, A book For A Rainy Day (1845)

I think there's only a few more left...phew...lol