The First Tea War: a History

From The First Tea War: a History

The following extract is a transcription in modern English of a poem found in the wreckage of the HMS Aeolus, following the first border skirmishes between Great Britain and China during the First Tea War

O you, Robert Fortune,
For Queen, the City and Country,
You went in a far away country,
To look for the bringer of joy and fortune.

A lady called Camilla,
That turns mere water
Into a drink subtler
Than the mighty Mocha.

When you left with the fog behind you
For the Kingdom of the Sons of Heaven,
Did you see the men that would follow you
To the Greater Heaven?

In the middle of still unexplored mountains,
Looking for the tea fountains,
Claws and flames against steel and powder.
Each trying to bring order.

Our mighty ships in the sky,
Big, shielded and moving so slowly,
Facing the true masters of the sky,
Beautiful, yet agile and deadly.

Several times, did we face them
These mighty beasts stronger than a boar
But they were just glowing in the sun like a gem
Meaning “Cry “Havoc!”, and let slip the dogs of war”.

 

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