The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer Part 37

And straggling ropes in pendent order placed.

The main-sail, by the squall so lately rent, In streaming pendants flying, is unbent: With brails [16] refix'd, another soon prepared, Ascending, spreads along beneath the yard.

To each yard-arm the head-rope [17] they extend, And soon their earings and their robans [18] bend.

That task perform'd, they first the braces slack, [19]

Then to the chesstree drag the unwilling tack. 210 And, while the lee clue-garnet's lower'd away, Taught aft the sheet they tally, and belay. [20]

Now to the north from Afric's burning sh.o.r.e, A troop of porpoises their course explore: In curling wreaths they gambol on the tide, Now bound aloft, now down the billow glide: Their tracks awhile the h.o.a.ry waves retain, That burn in sparkling trails along the main-- These fleetest coursers of the finny race, When threatening clouds the ethereal vault deface, 220 Their route to leeward still sagacious form, To shun the fury of the approaching storm.

III. Fair Candia now no more, beneath her lee, Protects the vessel from the insulting sea; Round her broad arms, impatient of control, Roused from the secret deep, the billows roll: Sunk were the bulwarks of the friendly sh.o.r.e, And all the scene an hostile aspect wore.

The flattering wind, that late with promised aid From Candia's bay the unwilling s.h.i.+p betray'd, 230 No longer fawns beneath the fair disguise, But like a ruffian on his quarry flies.

Tost on the tide she feels the tempest blow, And dreads the vengeance of so fell a foe-- As the proud horse, with costly trappings gay, Exulting, prances to the b.l.o.o.d.y fray; Spurning the ground he glories in his might, But reels tumultuous in the shock of fight: Even so, caparison'd in gaudy pride, The bounding vessel dances on the tide. 240 Fierce and more fierce the gathering tempest grew, South and by west the threatening demon blew; Auster's resistless force all air invades, And every rolling wave more ample spreads: The s.h.i.+p no longer can her top-sails bear; No hopes of milder weather now appear.

Bow-lines and halyards are cast off again, Clue-lines haul'd down, and sheets let fly amain: Embrail'd each top-sail, and by braces squared, The seamen climb aloft, and man each yard: 250 They furl'd the sails, and pointed to the wind The yards, by rolling tackles [21] then confined, While o'er the s.h.i.+p the gallant boatswain flies; Like a hoa.r.s.e mastiff through the storm he cries-- Prompt to direct the unskilful still appears, The expert he praises, and the timid cheers.

Now some, to strike top-gallant-yards [22] attend, Some, travellers up the weather-back-stays [23] send, At each mast-head the top-ropes [24] others bend: The parrels, lifts, [25] and clue-lines soon are gone, 260 Topp'd and unrigg'd, they down the backstays run; The yards secure along the booms [26] were laid, And all the flying ropes aloft belay'd: Their sails reduced, and all the rigging clear, Awhile the crew relax from toils severe; Awhile their spirits with fatigue opprest, In vain expect the alternate hour of rest-- But with redoubling force the tempests blow, And watery hills in dread succession flow: A dismal shade o'ercasts the frowning skies; 270 New troubles grow; fresh difficulties rise; No season this from duty to descend, All hands on deck must now the storm attend.

His race perform'd, the sacred lamp of day Now dipt in western clouds his parting ray!

His languid fires, half lost in ambient haze, Refract along the dusk a crimson blaze; Till deep immerged the sickening orb descends, And cheerless night o'er heaven her reign extends.

Sad evening's hour, how different from the past! 280 No flaming pomp, no blus.h.i.+ng glories cast, No ray of friendly light is seen around; The moon and stars in hopeless shade are drown'd.

The s.h.i.+p no longer can whole courses [27] bear, To reef them now becomes the master's care; The sailors summon'd aft all ready stand, And man the enfolding brails at his command: But here the doubtful officers dispute, Till skill and judgment prejudice confute: For Rodmond, to new methods still a foe, 290 Would first, at all events, the sheet let go; To long-tried practice obstinately warm, He doubts conviction, and relies on form.

This Albert and Arion disapprove, And first to brail the tack up firmly move: "The watchful seaman, whose sagacious eye On sure experience may with truth rely, Who from the reigning cause foretells the effect, This barbarous practice ever will reject; For, fluttering loose in air, the rigid sail 300 Soon flits to ruins in the furious gale; And he, who strives the tempest to disarm, Will never first embrail the lee yard-arm."

So Albert spoke; to windward, at his call, Some seamen the clue-garnet stand to haul-- The tack's eased off, [28] while the involving clue Between the pendent blocks ascending flew; The sheet and weather-brace they now stand by, [29]

The lee clue-garnet and the bunt-lines ply: Then, all prepared, Let go the sheet! he cries-- 310 Loud rattling, jarring, through the blocks it flies!

s.h.i.+vering at first, till by the blast impell'd, High o'er the lee yard-arm the canvas swell'd; By spilling lines [30] embraced, with brails confined, It lies at length unshaken by the wind.

The fore-sail then secured with equal care, Again to reef the mainsail they repair; While some above the yard o'erhaul the tye, Below the down-haul tackle [31] others ply; Jears, [32] lifts, and brails, a seaman each attends, 320 And down the mast its mighty yard descends: When lower'd sufficient they securely brace, And fix the rolling tackle in its place; The reef-lines [33] and their earings now prepared, Mounting on pliant shrouds [34] they man the yard: Far on the extremes appear two able hands, For no inferior skill this task demands-- To wind, foremost, young Arion strides; The lee yard-arm the gallant boatswain rides: Each earing to its cringle first they bend, 330 The reef-band [35] then along the yard extend; The circling earings [36] round the extremes entwined, By outer and by inner turns they bind; The reef-lines next from hand to hand received, Through eyelet-holes and roban-legs were reeved; The folding reefs in plaits inroll'd they lay, Extend the worming lines, and ends belay.

Hadst thou, Arion! held the leeward post While on the yard by mountain billows tost, Perhaps oblivion o'er our tragic tale 340 Had then for ever drawn her dusky veil; But ruling Heaven prolong'd thy vital date, Severer ills to suffer and relate.

For, while aloft the order those attend To furl the main-sail, or on deck descend; A sea, [37] up-surging with stupendous roll, To instant ruin seems to doom the whole: O friends, secure your hold! Arion cries-- It comes all dreadful! down the vessel lies Half buried sideways; while, beneath it tost, 350 Four seamen off the lee yard-arm are lost: Torn with resistless fury from their hold, In vain their struggling arms the yard enfold; In vain to grapple flying ropes they try, The ropes, alas! a solid gripe deny: p.r.o.ne on the midnight surge with panting breath They cry for aid, and long contend with death; High o'er their heads the rolling billows sweep, And down they sink in everlasting sleep.

Bereft of power to help, their comrades see 360 The wretched victims die beneath the lee; With fruitless sorrow their lost state bemoan, Perhaps a fatal prelude to their own!

In dark suspense on deck the pilots stand, Nor can determine on the next command: Though still they knew the vessel's armed side Impenetrable to the clasping tide; Though still the waters by no secret wound A pa.s.sage to her deep recesses found; Surrounding evils yet they ponder o'er, 370 A storm, a dangerous sea, and leeward sh.o.r.e!

"Should they, though reef'd, again their sails extend, Again in s.h.i.+vering streamers they may rend; Or, should they stand, beneath the oppressive strain, The down-press'd s.h.i.+p may never rise again; Too late to weather now Morea's land, [38]

And drifting fast on Athens' rocky strand."-- Thus they lament the consequence severe, Where perils unallay'd by hope appear: Long pondering in their minds each fear'd event, 380 At last to furl the courses they consent; That done, to reef the mizen next agree, And try [39] beneath it sidelong in the sea.

Now down the mast the yard they lower away, Then jears and topping-lift [40] secure belay; The head, with doubling canvas fenced around, In balance near the lofty peak they bound; The reef enwrapp'd, the inserting knittles tied, The halyards throat and peak are next applied-- The order given, the yard aloft they sway'd, 390 The brails relax'd, the extended sheet belay'd; The helm its post forsook, and, lash'd a-lee, [41]

Inclined the wayward prow to front the sea.

IV. When sacred Orpheus on the Stygian coast, With notes divine deplored his consort lost; Though round him perils grew in fell array, And Fates and Furies stood to bar his way; Not more adventurous was the attempt to move The infernal powers with strains of heavenly love, Than mine, in ornamental verse to dress 400 The harshest sounds that terms of art express: Such arduous toil sage Daedalus endured In mazes, self-invented, long immured, Till genius her superior aid bestow'd, To guide him through that intricate abode-- Thus, long imprison'd in a rugged way Where Phoebus' daughters never aim'd to stray, The Muse, that tuned to barbarous sounds her string, Now spreads, like Daedalus, a bolder wing; The verse begins in softer strains to flow, 410 Replete with sad variety of woe.

As yet, amid this elemental war, Where Desolation in his gloomy car Triumphant rages round the starless void, And Fate on every billow seems to ride; Nor toil, nor hazard, nor distress appear To sink the seamen with unmanly fear.

Though their firm hearts no pageant-honour boast, They scorn the wretch that trembles at his post; Who from the face of danger strives to turn, 420 Indignant from the social hour they spurn: Though now full oft they felt the raging tide In proud rebellion climb the vessel's side; Though every rising wave more dreadful grows, And in succession dire the deck o'erflows; No future ills unknown their souls appal, They know no danger, or they scorn it all: But even the generous spirits of the brave, Subdued by toil, a friendly respite crave; They, with severe fatigue alone opprest, 430 Would fain indulge an interval of rest.

Far other cares the master's mind employ; Approaching perils all his hopes destroy.

In vain he spreads the graduated chart, And bounds the distance by the rules of art; Across the geometric plane expands The compa.s.ses to circ.u.mjacent lands: Ungrateful task! for, no asylum found, Death yawns on every leeward sh.o.r.e around.-- While Albert thus, with horrid doubts dismay'd, 440 The geometric distances survey'd; On deck the watchful Rodmond cries aloud, Secure your lives! grasp every man a shroud-- Roused from his trance, he mounts with eyes aghast; When o'er the s.h.i.+p, in undulation vast, A giant surge down rushes from on high, And fore and aft dissever'd ruins lie.

As when, Britannia's empire to maintain, Great Hawke descends in thunder on the main, Around the brazen voice of battle roars, 450 And fatal lightnings blast the hostile sh.o.r.es; Beneath the storm their shatter'd navies groan; The trembling deep recoils from zone to zone-- Thus the torn vessel felt the enormous stroke, The boats beneath the thundering deluge broke; Tom from their planks the cracking ring-bolts drew, And gripes and las.h.i.+ngs all asunder flew; Companion, binnacle, in floating wreck, With compa.s.ses and gla.s.ses strew'd the deck; The balanced mizen, rending to the head, 460 In fluttering fragments from its bolt-rope fled; The sides convulsive shook on groaning beams, And, rent with labour, yawn'd their pitchy seams.

They sound the well, [42] and, terrible to hear!

Five feet immersed along the line appear: At either pump they ply the clanking brake, [43]

And, turn by turn, the ungrateful office take: Rodmond, Arion, and Palemon here At this sad task all diligent appear.

As some strong citadel, begirt with foes, 470 Tries long the tide of ruin to oppose, Destruction near her spreads his black array, And death and sorrow mark his horrid way; Till, in some destined hour, against her wall In tenfold rage the fatal thunders fall: It breaks! it bursts before the cannonade!

And following hosts the shatter'd domes invade: Her inmates long repel the hostile flood, And s.h.i.+eld their sacred charge in streams of blood: So the brave mariners their pumps attend, 480 And help incessant, by rotation, lend; But all in vain! for now the sounding cord, Updrawn, an undiminish'd depth explored.

Nor this severe distress is found alone, The ribs opprest by ponderous cannon groan; Deep rolling from the watery volume's height, The tortured sides seem bursting with their weight-- So reels Pelorus with convulsive throes, When in his veins the burning earthquake glows; Hoa.r.s.e through his entrails roars the infernal flame, 490 And central thunders rend his groaning frame-- Acc.u.mulated mischiefs thus arise, And fate, vindictive, all their skill defies: For this, one remedy is only known, From the torn s.h.i.+p her metal must be thrown; Eventful task! which last distress requires, And dread of instant death alone inspires: For, while intent the yawning decks to ease, Fill'd ever and anon with rus.h.i.+ng seas, Some fatal billow with recoiling sweep 500 May whirl the helpless wretches in the deep.

No season this for counsel or delay; Too soon the eventful moments haste away!

Here perseverance, with each help of art, Must join the boldest efforts of the heart: These only now their misery can relieve, These only now a dawn of safety give.

While o'er the quivering deck, from van to rear, Broad surges roll in terrible career, Rodmond, Arion, and a chosen crew, 510 This office in the face of death pursue: The wheel'd artillery o'er the deck to guide, Rodmond descending claim'd the weather-side; Fearless of heart the chief his orders gave, Fronting the rude a.s.saults of every wave-- Like some strong watch-tower nodding o'er the deep, Whose rocky base the foaming waters sweep, Untamed he stood; the stern aerial war, Had mark'd his honest face with many a scar Meanwhile Arion, traversing the waist, [44] 520 The cordage of the leeward guns unbraced, And pointed crows beneath the metal placed.

Watching the roll, their forelocks they withdrew, And from their beds the reeling cannon threw; Then, from the windward battlements unbound, Rodmond's a.s.sociates wheel'd the artillery round; Pointed with iron fangs, their bars beguile The ponderous arms across the steep defile: Then, hurl'd from sounding hinges o'er the side Thundering they plunge into the flas.h.i.+ng tide. 530 The s.h.i.+p, thus eased, some little respite finds In this rude conflict of the seas and winds-- Such ease Alcides felt, when, clogg'd with gore, The envenom'd mantle from his side he tore; When, stung with burning pain, he strove too late To stop the swift career of cruel fate; Yet then his heart one ray of hope procured, Sad harbinger of sevenfold pangs endured-- Such, and so short, the pause of woe she found!

Cimmerian darkness shades the deep around, 540 Save when the lightnings in terrific blaze Deluge the cheerless gloom with horrid rays: Above, all ether, fraught with scenes of woe, With grim destruction threatens all below; Beneath, the storm-lash'd surges furious rise, And wave uproll'd on wave a.s.sails the skies; With ever-floating bulwarks they surround The s.h.i.+p, half-swallow'd in the black profound.

With ceaseless hazard and fatigue oppress'd, Dismay and anguish every heart possess'd; 550 For while, with sweeping inundation, o'er The sea-beat s.h.i.+p the booming waters roar, Displaced beneath by her capacious womb, They rage their ancient station to resume; By secret ambushes, their force to prove, Through many a winding channel first they rove; Till gathering fury, like the fever'd blood, Through her dark veins they roll a rapid flood: When unrelenting thus the leaks they found, The clattering pumps with clanking strokes resound; 560 Around each leaping valve, by toil subdued, The tough bull-hide must ever be renew'd: Their sinking hearts unusual horrors chill, And down their weary limbs thick dews distil; No ray of light their dying hope redeems, Pregnant with some new woe each moment teems.

Again the chief the instructive chart extends, And o'er the figured plane attentive bends; To him the motion of each orb was known, That wheels around the sun's refulgent throne. 570 But here, alas! his science nought avails, Skill droops unequal, and experience fails.

The different traverses, since twilight made.

He on the hydrographic circle laid; Then, in the graduated arch contain'd, The angle of lee-way, [45] seven points, remain'd-- Her place discover'd by the rules of art, Unusual terrors shook the master's heart, When, on the immediate line of drift, he found The rugged isle, with rocks and breakers bound, 580 Of Falconera; distant only now Nine lessening leagues beneath the leeward bow: For, if on those destructive shallows tost, The helpless bark with all her crew are lost: As fatal still appears, that danger o'er, The steep St George, and rocky Gardalor.

With him the pilots, of their hopeless state, In mournful consultation, long debate-- Not more perplexing doubts her chiefs appal, When some proud city verges to her fall, 590 While ruin glares around, and pale affright Convenes her councils in the dead of night.

No blazon'd trophies o'er their concave spread, Nor storied pillars raised aloft their head: But here the Queen of shade around them threw Her dragon wing, disastrous to the view!

Dire was the scene with whirlwind, hail, and shower; Black melancholy ruled the fearful hour: Beneath, tremendous roll'd the flas.h.i.+ng tide, Where fate on every billow seem'd to ride-- 600 Enclosed with ills, by peril unsubdued, Great in distress the master-seaman stood!

Skill'd to command; deliberate to advise; Expert in action; and in council wise-- Thus to his partners, by the crew unheard, The dictates of his soul the chief referr'd: "Ye faithful mates! who all my troubles share, Approved companions of your master's care!

To you, alas! 'twere fruitless now to tell Our sad distress, already known too well: 610 This morn with favouring gales the port we left, Though now of every flattering hope bereft: No skill nor long experience could forecast The unseen approach of this destructive blast: These seas, where storms at various seasons blow, No reigning winds nor certain omens know-- The hour, the occasion, all your skill demands, A leaky s.h.i.+p, embay'd by dangerous lands!

Our bark no transient jeopardy surrounds, Groaning she lies beneath unnumber'd wounds: 620 'Tis ours the doubtful remedy to find, To shun the fury of the seas and wind; For in this hollow swell, with labour sore, Her flank can bear the bursting floods no more.

One only s.h.i.+ft, though desperate, we must try, And that before the boisterous storm to fly: Then less her sides will feel the surges' power, Which thus may soon the foundering hull devour.

'Tis true the vessel and her costly freight To me consign'd, my orders only wait; 630 Yet, since the charge of every life is mine, To equal votes our counsels I resign-- Forbid it, Heaven! that in this dreadful hour I claim the dangerous reins of purblind power!

But should we now resolve to bear away, Our hopeless state can suffer no delay: Nor can we, thus bereft of every sail, Attempt to steer obliquely on the gale; For then, if broaching sideway to the sea, Our dropsied s.h.i.+p may founder by the lee; 640 Vain all endeavours then to bear away, Nor helm, nor pilot, would she more obey."

He said, the listening mates with fix'd regard And silent reverence his opinion heard.

Important was the question in debate, And o'er their counsels hung impending fate: Rodmond, in many a scene of peril tried, Had oft the master's happier skill descried, Yet now, the hour, the scene, the occasion known, Perhaps with equal right preferr'd his own: 650 Of long experience in the naval art, Blunt was his speech and naked was his heart; Alike to him each climate, and each blast, The first in danger, in retreat the last: Sagacious, balancing the opposed events, From Albert his opinion thus dissents:-- "Too true the perils of the present hour, Where toils succeeding toils our strength o'erpower!

Our bark, 'tis true, no shelter here can find, Sore shatter'd by the ruffian seas and wind: 660 Yet where with safety can we dare to scud Before this tempest and pursuing flood?

At random driven, to present death we haste, And one short hour perhaps may be our last.

Though Corinth's gulf extend along the lee, To whose safe ports appears a pa.s.sage free, Yet think! this furious unremitting gale Deprives the s.h.i.+p of every ruling sail; And if before it she directly flies, New ills enclose us, and new dangers rise: 670 Here Falconera spreads her lurking snares, There distant Greece her rugged shelves prepares: Our hull, if once it strikes that iron coast, Asunder bursts, in instant ruin lost; Nor she alone, but with her all the crew, Beyond relief, are doom'd to perish too: Such mischiefs follow if we bear away; O safer that sad refuge--to delay!

"Then of our purpose this appears the scope, To weigh the danger with the doubtful hope: 680 Though sorely buffeted by every sea, Our hull unbroken long may try a-lee; The crew, though hara.s.s'd much with toils severe, Still at their pumps, perceive no hazards near: Shall we, incautious, then the danger tell, At once their courage and their hope to quell?

Prudence forbids! this southern tempest soon May change its quarter with the changing moon; Its rage, though terrible, may soon subside, Nor into mountains lash the unruly tide; 690 These leaks shall then decrease--the sails once more Direct our course to some relieving sh.o.r.e."

Thus while he spoke, around from man to man At either pump a hollow murmur ran; For, while the vessel through unnumber'd c.h.i.n.ks, Above, below, the invading water drinks, Sounding her depth they eyed the wetted scale, And lo! the leaks o'er all their powers prevail: Yet at their post, by terrors unsubdued, They with redoubling force their task pursued. 700 And now the senior pilots seem'd to wait Arion's voice, to close the dark debate.

Not o'er his vernal life the ripening sun Had yet progressive twice ten summers run; Slow to debate, yet eager to excel, In thy sad school, stern Neptune! taught too well: With lasting pain to rend his youthful heart, Dire fate in venom dipp'd her keenest dart; Till his firm spirit, temper'd long to ill, Forgot her persecuting scourge to feel; 710 But now the horrors, that around him roll, Thus rouse to action his rekindling soul: "Can we, delay'd in this tremendous tide, A moment pause what purpose to decide?

Alas! from circling horrors thus combined, One method of relief alone we find: Thus water-logg'd, thus helpless to remain Amid this hollow, how ill judged! how vain!

Our sea-breach'd vessel can no longer bear The floods that o'er her burst in dread career; 720 The labouring hull already seems half-fill'd With water through a hundred leaks distill'd; Thus drench'd by every wave, her riven deck, Stript and defenceless, floats a naked wreck; At every pitch the o'erwhelming billows bend Beneath their load the quivering bowsprit's end; A fearful warning! since the masts on high On that support with trembling hope rely; At either pump our seamen pant for breath, In dire dismay antic.i.p.ating death; 730 Still all our powers the increasing leaks defy, We sink at sea, no sh.o.r.e, no haven nigh.

One dawn of hope yet breaks athwart the gloom, To light and save us from a watery tomb; That bids us shun the death impending here, Fly from the following blast, and sh.o.r.eward steer.

"'Tis urged indeed, the fury of the gale Precludes the help of every guiding sail; And, driven before it on the watery waste, To rocky sh.o.r.es and scenes of death we haste; 740 But haply Falconera we may shun, And long to Grecian coasts is yet the run: Less hara.s.s'd then, our scudding s.h.i.+p may bear The a.s.saulting surge repell'd upon her rear; And since as soon that tempest may decay When steering sh.o.r.eward--wherefore thus delay?

Should we at last be driven by dire decree Too near the fatal margin of the sea, The hull dismasted there awhile may ride With lengthen'd cables, on the raging tide; 750 Perhaps kind Heaven, with interposing power, May curb the tempest ere that dreadful hour; But here, ingulf'd and foundering, while we stay, Fate hovers o'er, and marks us for her prey."

He said: Palemon saw with grief of heart The storm prevailing o'er the pilot's art; In silent terror and distress involved, He heard their last alternative resolved: High beat his bosom. With such fear subdued, Beneath the gloom of some enchanted wood, 760 Oft in old time the wandering swain explored The midnight wizards' breathing rites abhorr'd; Trembling, approach'd their incantations fell, And, chill'd with horror, heard the songs of h.e.l.l.

Arion saw, with secret anguish moved, The deep affliction, of the friend he loved, And, all awake to friends.h.i.+p's genial heat, His bosom felt consenting tremors beat: Alas! no season this for tender love, Far hence the music of the myrtle grove-- 770 He tried with soft persuasion's melting lore Palemon's fainting courage to restore; His wounded spirit heal'd with friends.h.i.+p's balm, And bade each conflict of the mind be calm.

Now had the pilots all the events revolved, And on their final refuge thus resolved-- When, like the faithful shepherd who beholds Some prowling wolf approach his fleecy folds, To the brave crew, whom racking doubts perplex, The dreadful purpose Albert thus directs: 780 "Unhappy partners in a wayward fate!

Whose courage now is known perhaps too late; Ye! who unmoved behold this angry storm In conflict all the rolling deep deform: Who, patient in adversity, still bear The firmest front when greatest ills are near; The truth, though painful, I must now reveal, That long in vain I purposed to conceal: Ingulf'd, all help of art we vainly try, To weather leeward sh.o.r.es, alas! too nigh: 790 Our crazy bark no longer can abide The seas, that thunder o'er her batter'd side: And while the leaks a fatal warning give That in this raging sea she cannot live, One only refuge from despair we find-- At once to wear, and scud before the wind.

Perhaps even then to ruin we may steer, For rocky sh.o.r.es beneath our lee appear; But that's remote, and instant death is here: Yet there, by Heaven's a.s.sistance, we may gain 800 Some creek or inlet of the Grecian main; Or, shelter'd by some rock, at anchor ride Till with abating rage the blast subside: But if, determined by the will of Heaven, Our helpless bark at last ash.o.r.e is driven, These councils, follow'd, from a watery grave Our crew perhaps amid the surf may save:-- "And first, let all our axes be secured, To cut the masts and rigging from aboard; Then to the quarters bind each plank and oar, 810 To float between the vessel and the sh.o.r.e: The longest cordage too must be convey'd On deck, and to the weather-rails belay'd: So they who haply reach alive the land, The extended lines may fasten on the strand, Whene'er, loud thundering on the leeward sh.o.r.e, While yet aloof, we hear the breakers roar Thus for the terrible event prepared, Brace fore and aft to starboard every yard; So shall our masts swim lighter on the wave, 820 And from the broken rocks our seamen save; Then westward turn the stem, that every mast May sh.o.r.eward fall as from the vessel cast.

When o'er her side once more the billows bound, Ascend the rigging till she strikes the ground; And, when you hear aloft the dreadful shock That strikes her bottom on some pointed rock, The boldest of our sailors must descend, The dangerous business of the deck to tend: Then burst the hatches off, and every stay 830 And every fastening laniard cut away; Planks, gratings, booms, and rafts to leeward cast; Then with redoubled strokes attack each mast, That buoyant lumber may sustain you o'er The rocky shelves and ledges to the sh.o.r.e: But, as your firmest succour, till the last O cling securely on each faithful mast!

Though great the danger, and the task severe, Yet bow not to the tyranny of fear; If once that slavish yoke your souls subdue, 840 Adieu to hope! to life itself adieu!

"I know among you some have oft beheld A bloodhound train, by rapine's l.u.s.t impell'd, On England's cruel coast impatient stand, To rob the wanderers wreck'd upon their strand!

These, while their savage office they pursue, Oft wound to death the helpless plunder'd crew, Who, 'scaped from every horror of the main, Implored their mercy, but implored in vain: Yet dread not this, a crime to Greece unknown, 850 Such bloodhounds all her circling sh.o.r.es disown; Who, though by barbarous tyranny oppress'd, Can share affliction with the wretch distress'd: Their hearts, by cruel fate inured to grief, Oft to the friendless stranger yield relief."

With conscious horror struck, the naval band Detested for a while their native land; They cursed the sleeping vengeance of the laws, That thus forgot her guardian sailors' cause.

Meanwhile the master's voice again they heard, 860 Whom, as with filial duty, all revered: "No more remains--but now a trusty band Must ever at the pumps industrious stand; And, while with us the rest attend to wear, Two skilful seamen to the helm repair-- And thou, Eternal Power! whose awful sway The storms revere, and roaring seas obey!

On thy supreme a.s.sistance we rely; Thy mercy supplicate, if doom'd to die!

Perhaps this storm is sent with healing breath 870 From neighbouring sh.o.r.es to scourge disease and death: 'Tis ours on thine unerring laws to trust; With thee, great Lord! 'whatever is, is just.'"

He said: and, with consenting reverence fraught, The sailors join'd his prayer in silent thought: His intellectual eye, serenely bright, Saw distant objects with prophetic light.

Thus, in a land that lasting wars oppress, That groans beneath misfortune and distress; Whose wealth to conquering armies falls a prey, 880 Till all her vigour, pride, and fame decay; Some bold sagacious statesman, from the helm, Sees desolation gathering o'er his realm; He darts around his penetrating eyes Where dangers grow, and hostile unions rise; With deep attention marks the invading foe, Eludes their wiles and frustrates every blow, Tries his last art the tottering state to save, Or in its ruins find a glorious grave.

Still in the yawning trough the vessel reels, 890 Ingulf'd beneath two fluctuating hills; On either side they rise, tremendous scene!

A long dark melancholy vale between: The balanced s.h.i.+p, now forward, now behind, Still felt the impression of the waves and wind, And to the right and left by turns inclined; But Albert from behind the balance drew, And on the prow its double efforts threw, The order now was given to bear away!

The order given, the timoneers obey: 900 Both stay-sail sheets to mid-s.h.i.+ps were convey'd, And round the foremast on each side belay'd: Thus ready, to the halyards they apply-- They hoist! away the flitting ruins fly: Yet Albert new resources still prepares, Conceals his grief, and doubles all his cares-- "Away there! lower the mizen-yard on deck,"

He calls, "and brace the foremost yards aback!"

His great example every bosom fires, New life rekindles and new hope inspires: 910 While to the helm unfaithful still she lies, One desperate remedy at last he tries-- "Haste! with your weapons cut the shrouds and stay, And hew at once the mizen-mast away!"

He said: to cut the girding stay they run, Soon on each side the sever'd shrouds are gone: Fast by the fated pine bold Rodmond stands, The impatient axe hung gleaming in his hands; Brandish'd on high, it fell with dreadful sound, The tall mast, groaning, felt the deadly wound; 920 Deep gash'd beneath, the tottering structure rings, And cras.h.i.+ng, thundering, o'er the quarter swings.

Thus, when some limb, convulsed with pangs of death, Imbibes the gangrene's pestilential breath, The experienced artist from the blood betrays The latent venom, or its course delays; But if the infection triumphs o'er his art, Tainting the vital stream that warms the heart, To stop the course of death's inflaming tides, The infected member from the trunk divides. 930

[Footnote 1: 'Jove's high hill:' Dicte.]

[Footnote 2: 'Dark scud:' scud is a name given by seamen to the lowest clouds, which are driven with great rapidity along the atmosphere, in squally or tempestuous weather.]