John Harrison

Clint Wastling

Miscalculation of longitude caused
the British fleet to sink off The Scilly Islands.

After the drownings, a prize was offered:
John Harrison rose to the challenge.

It was simply a matter of time: 
knowing it precisely at Greenwich
whilst aboard ship anywhere in the world.

His task, designing a chronometer which kept
the seconds with every pitch and yaw,
come rain or shine, heat or cold.

John Harrison dreamed in clockwork,
moved vertical cogs horizontal,
each solution, each advance saving time, saving lives.

Grasshopper escapement, brass fusée, wooden cogs,
remontoire, a jewelled going train,

always miniaturising until a pocket watch
ran trials across the Atlantic.

Here at the prime meridian where seconds linger
I can only wonder how with five ticks per second

he solved the problem of longitude,
charting the way for all to stay on course.

The Science

After several ships of the British Fleet sank off the Isles of Scilly in 1707 with a loss of nearly 2000 lives, the Longitude Prize of £20,000 was offered to anyone who could solve the problem. John Harrison was a self-educated gentleman, born in Yorkshire. He was a clock maker who rose to the challenge of developing a marine chronometer accurate enough to measure longitude. He worked on the designs and testing the effectiveness of clocks for over 30 years and eventually James Cook used a Harrison chronometer on his famous 2nd and 3rd voyages in the 1770s. John Harrison had to petition King George III to get recognition for his work and although he received grants, the Longitude Prize was never awarded, despite all his hard work and dedication.

The Poet

Clint Wastling’s poetry has been widely published. His first collection of poetry is entitled Layers (Maytree Press). His novel, The Geology of Desire (Stairwell Books), is an LGBTQ thriller set around Hull during World War II & Whitby in the 1980s.

Next poem: Lines Of Non-Extension by Janis Anne Rader