The Steersmen every bidden turn apply,
To right, and left, the spokes alternate fly
Thus, when some conquered Host retreats in fear,
The bravest leaders guard the broken rear;
Indignant they retire, and long oppose
Superior Armies that around them close;
Still shield the flanks, the routed squadrons join,
And guide the flight in one continued line:
Thus they direct the flying Bark before
Th' impelling floods, that lash her to the Shore:
High o'er the Poop th' audacious Seas aspire,
Uprolled in hills of fluctuating fire;
With lab'ring throes she rolls on either side,
And dips her gunnels in the yawning tide;
Her joints unhinged in palsied languors play,
As ice-flakes part beneath the noon-tide ray:
The Gale howls doleful through the blocks and shrouds,
And big Rain pours a deluge from the clouds;
From wintery magazines that sweep the sky,
Descending globes of Hail impetuous fly;
High on the Masts, with pale and livid rays,
Amid the gloom portentous Meteors blaze;
Th'ethereal dome in mournful pomp array'd
Now buried lies beneath impervious shade,
Now, flashing round intolerable light,
Redoubles all the horror of the night—
Such terror SINAI's trembling hill o'erspread,
When Heaven's loud trumpet sounded o'er its head:
It seemed, the wrathful Angel of the wind
Had all the horrors of the skies combin❜d,
And here, to one ill-fated Ship opposed,
At once the dreadful magazine disclosed:
And lo! tremendous o'er the Deep he springs,
Th' inflaming sulphur flashing from his wings;
Hark! his strong voice the dismal silence breaks,
Mad Chaos from the chains of Death awakes:
Loud, and more loud, the rolling Peals enlarge,
And blue on deck the fiery tides discharge;
There all aghast the shivering wretches stood,
While chill suspense and fear congealed their blood;
Wide bursts in dazzling sheets the living Flame,
And dread concussion rends th' ethereal frame;
Sick Earth convulsive groans from shore to shore,
And Nature, shuddering, feels the horrid roar.
Still the sad prospect rises on my sight, Revealed in all its mournful shade and light; E'en now my ear with quick vibration feels Th' explosion burst in strong rebounding peals; Swift through my pulses glides the kindling fire, As lightning glances on th' electric wire: Yet ah! the languid colours vainly strive To bid the Scene in native hues revive.
But lo! at last, from tenfold darkness born, Forth issues o'er the wave the weeping Morn: Hail, sacred Vision! who, on orient wings, The cheering dawn of light propitious brings;
All nature smiling hailed the vivid ray
That gave her beauties to returning Day,
All but our Ship! which, groaning on the tide,
No kind relief, no gleam of Hope descried;
For now in front her trembling inmates see
The hills of GREECE emerging on the lee→
So the lost lover views that fatal Morn,
On which, for ever from his bosom torn,
The maid adored resigns her blooming charms,
To bless with love some happier rival's arms;
So to ELIZA dawned that cruel day
That tore ÆNEAS from her sight away,
That saw him parting never to return,
Herself in funeral flames decreed to burn.
O yet in Clouds, thou genial Source of Light!
Conceal thy radiant glories from our sight;
Go, with thy smile adorn the happy plain,
And gild the scenes where health and pleasure reign:
But let not here, in scorn, thy wanton beam
Insult the dreadful grandeur of my theme.
While shoreward now the bounding Vessel flies,
Full in her van St. GEORGE'S Cliffs arise;
High o'er the rest a pointed Crag is seen,
That hung projecting o'er a mossy green;
Huge breakers on the larboard Bow appear,
And full a-head its eastern ledges bear:
To steer more eastward ALBERT still commands,
And shun, if possible, the fatal strands-
Nearer and nearer now the danger grows,
And all their skill relentless fates oppose;
For while more eastward they direct the prow,
Enormous waves the quivering deck o’erflow;
While, as she wheels, unable to subdue
Her sallies, still they dread her broaching-to:
Alarming thought! for now no more a-lee
Her trembling side could bear the mountained Sea,
And if pursuing Waves she scuds before,
Headlong she runs upon the frightful shore;
A Shore, where Shelves and hidden Rocks abound,
Where death in secret ambush lurks around:
Not half so dreadful to ÆNEAS'
The Straits of SICILY were seen to rise,
When Palinurus from the helm descry'd
The Rocks of SCYLLA on his eastern side,
While in the west, with hideous yawn disclosed,
His onward path CHARYBDIS' gulph opposed;
The double danger he alternate viewed,
And cautiously his arduous track pursued:
Thus, while to right and left destruction lies,
Between th' extremes the daring Vessel flies:
With terrible irruption bursting o'er
The marble Cliffs, tremendous Surges roar;
Hoarse through each winding creek the Tempest raves,
And hollow rocks repeat the groan of waves:
|