Fair Candia now no more beneath her lee Protects the vessel from th' insulting sea: Round her broad arms, impatient of control, Roused from their secret deeps, the billows roll. Sunk were the bulwarks of the friendly shore, And all the scene an hostile aspect wore. The flattering wind, that late, with promised aid, From Candia's bay th' unwilling ship betray'd, 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 bloody 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 tideFierce, and more fierce the southern demon blew, And more incensed the roaring waters grew: The ship no longer can her topsails spread, And every hope of fairer skies is fled. Bow-lines and haliards are relax'd again, Clue-lines haul'd down, and sheets let fly amain; Clued up each top-sail, and by braces squared, The seamen climb aloft on either yard; They furl'd the sail, and pointed to the wind The yard, by rolling tackles* then confined. While o'er the ship the gallant boatswain flies: Like a hoarse mastiff through the storm he cries: Prompt to direct th' unskilful still appears ; Th' expert he praises, and the fearful cheers. Now some to strike top-gallant yards attend ;† Some travellers up the weather-backstays send; At each mast-head the top-ropes|| others bend. The youngest sailors from the yards above Their parrels, lifts,** and braces soon remove : Then topt an-end, and to travellers tied, [slide, Charged with their sails, they down the backstays The yards secure along the boomstt reclined, While some the flying cords aloft confined.

The rolling tackle is an assemblage of pulleys, used to confine the yard to the weather-side of the mast, and prevent the former from rubbing against the latter by the fluctuating motion of the ship in a turbulent sca.

It is usual to send down the top gallant yards on the approach of a storm. They are the highest yards that are rigged in a ship.

Travellers are slender iron rings, encircling the backstays, and used to facilitate the hoisting or lowering

of the top-gallant yards, by confining them to the backstays, in their ascent or descent, so as to prevent them 'from swinging about by the agitation of the vessel.

Backstays are long ropes extending from the right and left side of the ship to the top-mast heads, which they are intended to secure, by counteracting the effort of the wind upon the sails.

Top-ropes are the cords by which the top-gallant yards are hoisted up from the deck, or lowered again in stormy weather.

The parrel, which is usually a movable band of rope, is employed to confine the yard to its respective mast.

** Lifts are ropes extending from the head of any mast to the extremities of its particular yard, to support the weight of the latter; to retain it in balance; or to raise one yard-arm higher than the other, which is accordingly called topping.

tt The booms, in this place, imply any masts or yards lying on deck in reserve, to supply the place of others which may be carried away by distress of weather, &c.

Their sails reduced, and all the rigging clear,
A while the crew relax from toils severe.
A while their spirits, with fatigue opprest,
In vain expect th' alternate hour of rest:
But with redoubling force the tempests blow
And watery hills in fell succession flow;
A dismal shade o'ercasts the frowning skies;
New troubles grow; new difficulties rise.
No season this from duty to descend!—
All hands on deck th' eventful hour attend.
His race perform'd, the sacred lamp of day
Now dipt in western clouds his parting ray,
His sick'ning fires, half-lost in ambient haze,
Refract along the dusk a crimson blaze;
Till deep immerged the languid orb declines,
And now to cheerless night the sky resigns!
Sad evening's hour, how different from the past!
No flaming pomp, no blushing glories cast;
No ray of friendly light is seen around :
The moon and stars in hopeless shade are
drown'd.

The ship no longer can her courses* bear :
To reef the courses is the master's care:
The sailors, summon'd aft, a daring band!
Attend th' enfolding brails at his command.
But here the doubtful officers dispute,
"Till skill and judgment prejudice confute.
Rodmond, whose genius never soar'd beyond
The narrow rules of art his youth had conn'd,
Still to the hostile fury of the wind
Released the sheet, and kept the tack confined;
To long-tried practice obstinately warm,
He doubts conviction, and relies on form.
But the sage master this advice declines;
With whom Arion in opinion joins.-
The watchful seaman, whose sagacious eye
On sure experience may with truth rely,
Who from the reigning cause foretells th' 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.
The master said;―obedient to command,
To raise the tack, the ready sailors standt-
Gradual it loosens, while th' involving clue,
Swell'd by the wind, aloft unruffling flew.
The sheet and weather-brace they now stand
The lee clue-garnet and the bunt-lines ply.
by it
Thus all prepared, Let go the sheet! he cries ;
Impetuous round the ringing wheels it flies:
Shivering at first, till by the blast impell'd,
High o'er the lee-yard arm the canvass swell'd:

The courses are generally understood to be the main sail, foresail, and mizen, which are the largest and lowest sails of their several masts; the term is, however, sometimes taken in a larger sense.

t It has been remarked before in note **, p. 19, col. 1, that the tack is always fastened to windward; accordingly, as soon as it is cast loose, and the clue-garnet hauled up, the weather clue of the sail immediately mounts to the yard; and this operation must be carefully performed in a storm, to prevent the sail from splitting or being torn to pieces by shivering.

It is necessary to pull in the weather-brace whenever the sheet is cast off, to preserve the sail from shak ing violently.

By spilling-lines embraced, with brails confined
It lies at length unshaken by the wind.
The foresail then secured with equal care,
Again to reef the mainsail they repair.-
While some, high-mounted, overhaul the tye,
Below the down-haul tacklet others ply.
Jears, lifts, and brails, a seaman each attends,
. Along the mast the willing yard descends.
When lower'd sufficient, they securely brace,
And fix'd the rolling-tackle in its place;
The reef-liness and their earings now prepared,
Mounting on pliant shrouds, they man the yard.
Far on th' extremes two able hands appear,
Arion there, the hardy boatswain here;
That in the van to front the tempest hung;
This round the lee yard-arm, ill-omen'd! clung.
Each earing to its station first they bend;
The reef-band then along the yard extend:
The circling earings, round th' extremes entwined,
By outer and by inner turns** they bind.
From hand to hand the reef-lines next received,
Through eye-let holes and roebin legs were reeved.
The reef in double folds involved they lay;
Strain the firm cord, and either end belay.

Hadst thou, Arion! held the leeward post,
While on the yard by mountain billows tost,
Perhaps oblivion o'er our tragic tale

Had then for ever drawn her dusky veil.-
But ruling heaven prolong'd thy vital date,
Severer ills to suffer and relate!

For, while their orders those aloft attend,
To furl the mainsail, or on deck descend,
A seatt up surging with tremendous roll,
To instant ruin seems to doom the whole.
"O friends! secure your hold!" Arion cries;
It comes all dreadful, stooping from the skies;

The spilling-lines, which are only used on particular occasions in tempestuous weather, are employed to draw together and confine the belly of the sail, when it is inflated by the wind over the yard.

The violence of the wind forces the yard so much outward from the mast on these occasions, that it cannot easily be lowered so as to reef the sail, without the application of a tackle to haul it down on the mast. This is afterwards converted into rolling tackle. See note, 1st col. p. 20.

Jears are the same to the mainsail, foresail, and mizen, as the haliards (note, 1st col. p. 19) are to all inferior sails. The tye is the upper part of the jears.

5 Reef-lines are only used to reef the mainsail and foresail. They are past in spiral turns through the eye

let holes of the reef, and over the head of the sails between the rope-band legs, till they reach the extremities of the reef, to which they are firmly extended, so as to lace the reef close up to the yard.

I Shrouds are thick ropes, stretching from the mastheads downwards to the outside of the ship, serving to support the masts. They are also used as a range of rope-ladders, by which the seamen ascend or descend, to perform whatever is necessary about the sails and rigging.

The reef-band is a long piece of canvass sewed across the sail, to strengthen the canvass in the place where the eye let holes of the reef are formed.

The outer turns of the earing serve to extend the sail along the yard; and the inner turns are employed to confine its head-rope close to its surface. See note I, 2d col. p. 19.

Uplifted on its horrid edge she feels

The shock, and on her side half-buried reels:
The sail half bury'd in the whelming wave,
A fearful warning to the seamen gave:
While from its margin, terrible to tell!
Three sailors, with their gallant boatswain, fell.
Torn with resistless fury from their hold,
In vain their struggling arms the yard infold:
In vain to grapple flying cords they try,
The cords, alas! a solid gripe deny !
Prone 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
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 passage to her deep recesses found;
Surrounding evils yet they ponder o'er-
A storm, a dangerous sea, and lee ward shore!
Should they, though reef'd, again their sails extend,
Again in fluttering fragments they may rend;
Or should they stand, beneath the dreadful strain,
The down-press'd ship may never rise again;
Too late to weather now Morea's land,
Yet verging fast to Athen's rocky strand.-
Thus they lament the consequence severe,
Where perils unallay'd by hope appear.
Long in their minds revolving each event,
At last to furl the courses they consent;
That done, to reef the mizen next agree,
And try,t beneath it, sidelong in the sea.

Now down the mast the sloping yard declined, Till by the jears and topping lift confined; The head, with doubling canvass fenced around, In balance near the lofty peak, they bound. The reef enwrapt, th' inserted knittles tied, To hoist the shorten'd sail again they hied. The order given, the yard aloft they sway'd; The brails relax'd, th' extended sheet belay'd: The helm its post forsook, and lash'd a-lee,§ Inclined the wayward prow to front the sea.

When sacred Orpheus, on the Stygian coast, With notes divine implored his consort lost;

To weather a shore is to pass to the windward of it, which at this time is prevented by the violence of the storm.

† To try, is to lay the ship, with her near side in the direction of the wind and sea, with the head somewhat inclined to the windward; the helm being laid a-lee to retain her in this position. See a farther illustration of this in the last note of this Canto.

The topping lift, which tops the upper part of the mizen-yard, (see note **, p. 20.) This line and the six following describe the operation of reefing and balancing the mizen. The reef of this sail is towards the lower end, the knittles being small short lines used in the room of points for this purpose, (see note 4, 1st col. p. 19, and note, p. 20;) they are accordingly knotted under the foot-rope or lower edge of the sail. See note t,

§ Lash'd a-lee is fastened to the lee-side.

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 powers of hell with strains of heavenly love,
Than mine, to bid the unwilling Muse explore
The wilderness of rude mechanic lore.
Such toil th' unwearied Daedalus endured,
When in the Cretan labyrinth immured;
Till Art her salutary help bestow'd,

To guide him through that intricate abode.
Thus long entangled in a thorny way,
That never heard the sweet Piërian lay.

They sound the well,* and, terrible to hear!
Five feet immersed along the line appear.
At either pump they ply the clanking brake,t
And turn by turn th' ungrateful office take.
Rodmond, Arion, and Palemon here,
At this sad task, all diligent appear.

As some fair castle, shook by rude alarms,
Opposes long th' approach of hostile arms;
Grim war around her plants 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:

string,

Now spreads, like Dædalus, a bolder wing;

The verse begins in softer strains to flow,
Replete with sad variety of wo.

As yet, amid this elemental war,

That scatters desolation from afar,
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 in his post;
Who from the face of danger strives to turn,
Indignant from the social hour they spurn.
Though now full oft they felt the raging tide
In proud rebellion climb the vessel's side,
No future ills unknown their souls appal;
They know no danger, or they scorn it all!
But e'en the generous spirits of the brave,
Subdued by toil, a friendly respite crave:
A short repose alone their thoughts implore,
Their harass'd powers by slumber to restore.
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;
In vain athwart the mimic seas expands
The compasses to circumjacent lands.
Ungrateful task! for no asylum traced
A passage open'd from the watery waste :
Fate seem'd to guard, with adamantine mound,
The path to every friendly port around.
While Albert thus, with secret doubts dismay'd,
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 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 th' enormous stroke:
The boats beneath the thundering deluge broke,
Forth started from their planks the bursting rings,
Th' extended cordage all asunder springs;
The pilot's fair machinery strews the deck,
And cards and needles swim in floating wreck.
The balanced mizen, rending to the head,
In streaming ruins from the margin fled,
The sides convulsive shook on groaning beams,
And, rent with labour, yawn'd the pitchy seams;

And hostile troops the shatter'd breach ascend. Her valiant inmates still the foe retard, Resolved till death their sacred charge to guard.

So the brave mariners their pumps attend,
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, oppress'd 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;
Hoarse through his entrails roars th' infernal flame,
And central thunders rend his groaning frame.—
Accumulated mischiefs thus arise,

And Fate, vindictive, all their skill defies.
One only remedy the season gave;

To plunge the nerves of battle in the wave:
From their high platforms, thus, th'artillery thrown,
Eased of their load, the timbers less shall groan:
But arduous is the task their lot requires;
A task that hovering fate alone inspires :
For while intent the yawning decks to ease,
That ever and anon are drench'd with seas,
Some fatal billow with recoiling sweep,
May hurl the helpless wretches in the deep.

No season this for counsel or delay!
Too soon th' 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,
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 assaults of every wave. [deep,
Like some strong watch-tower, nodding o'er the
Whose rocky base the foaming waters sweep,
Untamed he stood; the stern aërial war
Had marked his honest face with many a scar.-
Meanwhile Arion, traversing the waist,

The well is an apartment in the ship's hold, serving to enclose the pumps. It is sounded by dropping a measured iron rod down into it by a long line. Hence the increase or diminution of the leaks are easily discovered. t The brake is the lever or handle of the pump, by which it is wrought.

The waist of a ship of this kind is a hollow space, about five feet in depth, between the elevations of the