Arthur Ransome Literary Pages
References and Allusions

Prose and poetry references and allusions in the Swallows and Amazons books
The Armada Thomas, Lord Macaulay "And the red glare on Skiddaw woke the burghers of Carlisle" – How Titty knew that Carlisle had to be nearby, upon seeing Skiddaw from the summit of Kanchenjunga.
The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens Traditional "Gae fetch a web o' the silken claith" – Swallowdale Ch. VII.
Cargoes John Masefield "Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus" – Peter Duck, Ch. XXIX.
Casabianca Felicia D. Hemans "The boy stood on the burning deck" – The poem Nancy and Peggy already knew.
The Iliad of Homer Alexander Pope "By mutual confidence and mutual aid" – Swallowdale Ch. IV.
John Winter Laurence Binyon "He turns his head, but in his ear the steady Trade-Winds run" – Peter Duck Ch. I.
The Little Mermaid Hans Christian Andersen "Moving it at all reminded him of the mermaid who had to walk on sharp knives" – Roger's wounded foot in Swallowdale.
On first looking Into
Chapman's Homer
John Keats "Silent, upon a peak in Darien" – Titty looking at the Atlantic from Crab Island; Swallows and Amazons Ch. I.
One of the Bo'sun's Yarns John Masefield "'And well,' says he, 'and how are your arms and legs and liver and lungs and bones afeeling now?'"" – Swallows and Amazons Ch. II.
The Yarn of the Loch Achray John Masefield "The old man said, 'I mean to hang on till her canvas busts or her sticks are gone'" – The bit Daddy read to them at Falmouth; Swallowdale Ch. V.



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