Poetry Codex

Restoration & Augustan

William Falconer

1732–1770

William Falconer (1732–1770) was a Scottish sailor and poet, born in Edinburgh. He served at sea from boyhood and survived the wreck of the merchant ship Britannia off Cape Colonna, in Attica, an experience that underlies his best-known poem.

The Shipwreck (1762), in three cantos, is a narrative of a voyage and its loss, written in heroic couplets and notable for its accurate sea language. His other verse includes The Demagogue (1764) and a few occasional pieces. He is said to have been lost at sea in the frigate Aurora, which disappeared on its voyage out in 1769–70.

Major Works (1)

  1. The Shipwreck — Narrative poem, 1762

Poems (6)

  1. The Demagogue
  2. A Poem Sacred to the Memory of His Royal Highness Frederic Prince of Wales
  3. Ode on the Duke of York's Second Departure from England as Rear-Admiral
  4. The Fond Lover: A Ballad
  5. On the Uncommon Scarcity of Poetry
  6. Description of a Ninety-Gun Ship

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