Percy Fysshe-Fingers - Romantic Poet

Percy Fysshe-Fingers was one of the greatest unknown poets who ever wrote in the English language. Although largely forgotten nowadays, such was his influence on contemporaries like Shelley, Keats and Byron that he was once called the “First Great Romantic.” ¹ Indeed, many of his poems and ideas were later copied, adapted or incorporated in some of the Romantic Poets’ great works, most notably his epic “Song of the ancient sea dog.” Shelley even changed his name from “Paul” to the more pretentious “Percy Bysshe” in honour of his mentor.

Born the son of one of the wealthiest fishing magnates in the port of Grimsby, he led a delicate and sheltered upbringing. At school, he was nicknamed “Pysse-Fingers” by school friends due to his poor personal hygiene. This caused him to be a shy, introverted boy who turned to reading and writing poetry for solace. His early works were largely woeful and gave no indication of the breathtaking quality of his later verse. Although “I bloody hate you lot, you make me sick” was published, by his uncle’s publishing house, it failed to sell.

Upon leaving school, he married childhood sweetheart Birdseye Captania in what became known as the “Humberside Society Wedding” of the year. Unusually for a woman of that era, she refused to change her name upon marriage, reasoning that her new name would make her “the subject of much playful mockery.” This dilemma is one that many modern women are free from. When you have been christened “Apple” or “Peaches” for example, there is no surname on the planet that could make your name even more ridiculous, except perhaps “N’Cream.”

Their marriage was to be characterised by debauchery, drunkenness and decadence, much admired by young Romantics. Many younger poets tried to copy this lifestyle but paid the ultimate price by dying young. Fysshe-Fingers lived to be 97 claiming that “whereas the young rapscallions smoked opium, he smoked nought worse than herring”. The other parallels are also noteworthy; Shelley died in a boating accident rumoured to be sabotage, but Fysshe-Fingers never had any cause to trouble the lifeguard whilst sailing his trawler.

¹ Goole Enquirer, 21 October 1778

Great Works:

“Oz, man. Dee us a favour” - 1796 – the first sonnet about Geordie builders, which was the inspiration for the television series “Auf Wiedersehen, Pet”.

“The eel of Waterloo”- 1797 – (later plagiarised by Lord Byron)

“Ode to a night in gale force 7 seas”- 1798 (later plagiarised by Keats)

“I wandered lonely as a Cod”- 1799 (later plagiarised by Wordsworth)