The shipwreck, a poem by W. Falconer, with a sketch of his life |
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The Shipwreck, a Poem by W. Falconer, With a Sketch of His Life William Falconer No preview available - 2018 |
The Shipwreck, a Poem by W. Falconer, with a Sketch of His Life William Falconer No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
Albert aloft anguish Arion beneath billows blast bloom boatswain bosom bowsprit brails Candia Canto canvas charms confin'd cords crew cruel Dædalus dæmons danger death deck deep distress doom'd dreadful Epaminondas eternal eyes fair faithless fatal Fate flaming flies foresail gale glides glow Greece groan heart Heaven helm High o'er hope horror hostile hour James Watt leeward Lemnos maid mainsail mast melt mizen mournful Muses numbers pain pale Palemon PALEMON'S STORY perils plain prow rage reef renown'd roar rocks Rodmond roll ropes Rous'd ruin sacred sail sailors Scamander scene scudding seamen secret serene shade ship ship's SHIPWRECK shore side SIEGE OF CANDIA skies smile soft soon soul Stay-sails stern storm strain surge sweet tale tempest terror thou thro thundering tide toil topsails trembling vale veer vessel voice wandering watery wave weep WILLIAM FALCONER wind wing wound yard youth
Popular passages
Page 57 - Roused from his trance, he mounts with eyes aghast ; When o'er the ship, 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, And fatal lightnings blast the hostile shores ; Beneath the storm their shatter'd navies groan ; The trembling deep recoils from zone to zone — Thus the torn vessel felt the...
Page 97 - Some, from the main-yard-arm impetuous thrown On marble ridges die without a groan. Three, with Palemon, on their skill depend, And from the wreck on oars and rafts descend. Now on the mountain-wave on high they ride, Then downward plunge beneath th...
Page 100 - Awhile they wait th' exhausted waves' retreat, Then climb slow up the beach with hands and feet. O Heaven ! deliver'd by whose sovereign hand, Still on the brink of hell they shuddering stand, Receive the languid incense they bestow, That damp with death appears not yet to glow. To thee each soul the warm oblation pays, With trembling ardour of unequal praise ; In every heart dismay with wonder strives, And Hope the sicken'd spark of life revives ; Her magic powers their exil'd health restore, Till...
Page 99 - O'er the dire prospect as for life he strives, He looks if poor Palemon yet survives— ' Ah, wherefore, trusting to unequal art, Didst thou, incautious ! from the wreck depart ? Alas ! these rocks all human skill defy, Who strikes them once, beyond relief must die: And now sore wounded, thou perhaps art tost On these, or in some oozy cavern lost.
Page 95 - In vain, alas! the sacred shades of yore Would arm the mind with philosophic lore ; In vain they'd teach us, at the latest breath, To smile serene amid the pangs of death, Even Zeno's self, and Epictetus old, This fell abyss had shudder'd to behold.
Page 51 - Who from the reigning cause foretells the effect, This barbarous practice ever will reject; For, fluttering loose in air, the rigid sail Soon flits to ruins in the furious gale; And he, who strives the tempest to disarm, Will never first embrail the lee yard-arm.
Page 94 - The foremast totters, unsustain'd on high: And now the ship, fore-lifted by the sea, Hurls the tall fabric backward o'er her lee; While, in the general wreck, the faithful stay Drags the main-topmast from its post away.
Page 29 - Now glanced obliquely o'er the woodland scene. Creation smiles around ; on every spray The warbling birds exalt their evening lay : Blithe skipping o'er yon hill, the fleecy train Join the deep chorus of the lowing plain ; The golden lime and orange there were seen On fragrant branches of perpetual green ; The crystal streams, that velvet meadows lave, To the green ocean roll with chiding wave. The glassy ocean hushed, forgets to roar, But trembling murmurs on the sandy shore...
Page 58 - 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...
Page 12 - Once breath'd sweet influence on the happy plain ; While o'er the lawn, with dance and festive song, Young Pleasure led the jocund hours along : In gay luxuriance Ceres too was seen To crown the Vallies with eternal green : For wealth, for valour, courted and revered, What Albion is, fair Candia then appear'd.