Published 16 December 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2890
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2890

Feature

Christmas 2008: Great Britons

Churchill’s flu poem

¹ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 17183, Stockholm, Sweden , ² Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan, ³ WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, National Institute of Infectious Disease, Tokyo, Japan

Angus Nicoll and colleagues unearth the young Churchill’s poem about the Russian flu pandemic of 1890-1

The Winston Churchill Museum contains a poem on the Russian flu pandemic of the 1890s written by Churchill when age 15, towards the end of his school days at Harrow. That poem is reproduced below, and it records features probably common to all pandemics. Firstly, that the virulence of infection usually diminishes with time and extension of a pandemic:

"Yet Father Neptune strove right well To moderate this plague of Hell, And thwart it in its course; And though it passed the streak of brine [the English Channel] And penetrated this thin line, It came with broken force."

Secondly, that the intensity of transmission often falls in late spring and summer:

"For though it ravaged far and wide Both village, town and countryside, Its power to kill was o’er; And with the favouring winds of Spring (Blest is the time of which I sing) It left our native shore."

The 1890-1 pandemic was perhaps the sixth pandemic of that century and certainly the best described.^{1 2 3 4} Its clinical and epidemiological features are typical of influenza type A.^{2 3 4} It was first described in Central Russia and then spread to Europe, but it may have arisen in China and southeast Asia (now thought to be the origin of new influenza A viruses⁵).

Different flu pandemics have distinct features in terms of severity, who they affect, clinical spectrum, and which groups account for most transmission—one reason why they are so difficult to plan for.⁶ The 1890 pandemic had a much lower observed case-fatality rate than that of the 1918-9 Spanish flu.^{2 4 6} Many died though, because of an overall high attack rate and the inability of medical services to treat primary or secondary infections.^{2 4} The high mortality interrupted the decline in deaths from communicable diseases caused by improved sanitation and living standards in the later 19th century.² FB Smith suggests that the pandemic contributed to the sense of "fin de siècle" that influenced western European art and society.²

Although the 1890-1 pandemic was only mild to moderate in severity, mass sickness disrupted core services and the UK economy.² Postal communications stopped for weeks and railway services were interrupted. Command and control mechanisms were impaired. In 1890 the prime minister was incapacitated for several weeks, and in 1891 committee work in parliament had to stop.⁴ Transmission was intensified because the lack of sick pay and fear of losing their jobs made sick people ignore advice to stay at home.² The 1890s event shows what can happen when preparations for pandemic flu are inadequate.

Poem: The influenza Oh how shall I its deeds recount Or measure the untold amount Of ills that it has done? From China’s bright celestial land E’en to Arabia’s thirsty sand It journeyed with the sun. O’er miles of bleak Siberia’s plains Where Russian exiles toil in chains It moved with noiseless tread; And as it slowly glided by There followed it across the sky The spirits of the dead. The Ural peaks by it were scaled And every bar and barrier failed To turn it from its way; Slowly and surely on it came, Heralded by its awful fame, Increasing day by day. On Moscow’s fair and famous town Where fell the first Napoleon’s crown It made a direful swoop; The rich, the poor, the high, the low Alike the various symptoms know, Alike before it droop. Nor adverse winds, nor floods of rain Might stay the thrice-accursed bane; And with unsparing hand, Impartial, cruel and severe It travelled on allied with fear And smote the fatherland. Fair Alsace and forlorn Lorraine, The cause of bitterness and pain In many a Gaelic breast, Receive the vile, insatiate scourge, And from their towns with it emerge And never stay nor rest. And now Europa groans aloud, And ’neath the heavy thunder-cloud Hushed is both song and dance; The germs of illness wend their way To westward each succeeding day And enter merry France. Fair land of Gaul, thy patriots brave Who fear not death and scorn the grave Cannot this foe oppose, Whose loathsome hand and cruel sting, Whose poisonous breath and blighted wing Full well thy cities know. In Calais port the illness stays, As did the French in former days, To threaten Freedom’s isle; But now no Nelson could o’erthrow This cruel, unconquerable foe, Nor save us from its guile. Yet Father Neptune strove right well To moderate this plague of Hell, And thwart it in its course; And though it passed the streak of brine And penetrated this thin line, It came with broken force. For though it ravaged far and wide Both village, town and countryside, Its power to kill was o’er; And with the favouring winds of Spring (Blest is the time of which I sing) It left our native shore. God shield our Empire from the might Of war or famine, plague or blight And all the power of Hell, And keep it ever in the hands Of those who fought ’gainst other lands, Who fought and conquered well. Winston Churchill, age 15, Harrow School www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=463

Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2890

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Competing interests: None declared.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

References

1. Thompson ES. Influenza or epidemic catarrhal fever—a historical survey of epidemics in Great Britain from 1510 to 1890. London: Percival & Co, 1890.
2. Smith FB. The Russian influenza in the United Kingdom 1889-1894. Soc History Med 1995;8:44-73.
3. Creighton C. Influenzas and epidemic agues. In: A history of epidemics in Britain. Vol 2. London: Eversley, 1965:345-62.
4. Parsons HF. Report on the influenza epidemic of 1889-90. PP Cmd 6387. 1891:121-51.
5. Russell C, Jones T, Barr I, Cox NJ, Garten RJ, Gregory V, et al. The global circulation of seasonal influenza A (H3N2) viruses. Science 2008;320:340-6.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
6. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Previous pandemics. http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/Health_Topics/Pandemic_Influenza/stats.aspx.

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