The Shipwreck (Falconer, 1762)/The Shipwreck/Canto 1

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CANTO I.

ARGUMENT.

  • Proposal of the poem
  • Invocation
  • Apology
  • Reference from the muses to memory; her ornaments, emblems and attributes
  • Address to her, as a Goddess
  • She relates the story
  • A ship bound from Ægypt to Venice, touches at Crete or Candia
  • Comparison of the ancient and modern condition of that island
  • Misery and Barrenness of the adjacent Cyclades
  • Season of the year
  • Several prognostics of a Storm
  • Vessel departs from the Port in light and transient breezes
  • Morning
  • Sunrise
  • Operation of an azimuth
  • A shoal of dolphins; beauty of a dying dolphin
  • Increase and direction of the Gale
  • Description of the shore of Crete as the Ship passes
  • A water-spout
  • Cause of its rise
  • Approach
  • cause and effects of its fall
  • Wind freshens
  • Sail shortened
  • View of the grove that contained the temple of Jupiter
  • His character
  • Porpoises
  • Gale continues to rise
  • Topsails reefed
  • Appearance of Cape Spado.
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PROEM.

While jarring int'rests wake the world to arms,And fright the peaceful plains, with fierce alarms;While Neptune hears Britannia's Thunders rollIn vengeance, o'er the deep, from pole to pole:Declining martial strains and hostile rage, 5An unknown Author treads th' Aönian stage;Far other lays of sad Distress to sing,Than ever trembled on the lyric string:To paint a scene, the muses never knew;A scene, where never Phocian laurel grew: 10Where adverse elements dire conflict wage,And swelling surges brave the Tempest's rage;Where Dangers, in one sad succession, rise,And Hope immers'd in present Anguish lies.Ye ever-tuneful Nine! whose sacred lyres 15Bid vernal groves resound with heavenly choirs;Whose golden viols, fraught with endless Fame,Arts, Arms, and Heroes to all space proclaim;Or to soft sounds, in softer notes, expressThe variegated pang of deep distress: 20Amidst the mournful tales of plaintive woe,That, from your harps, in melting numbers flow;To nautic strains th untutor'd song inspire!And deign a ray of your Promethean fire!The fate, in lively sorrow, to deplore, 25Of wand'rers shipwreck'd on a leeward shore.Alas! unheeded by th' Aönian Train,Their heavenly presence I implore in vain. ​Ah! will they leave Pieria's flow'ry vales,To visit frowning skies and ruthless gales? 30Where dreadful surges roll beneath the storm,And horrid tempests all the deep deform:With them perpetual harmony remains,While endless Discord fills these dire domains.Unknown to Phoebus or the sacred Nine, 35Too bold, the Youth approaches Delphos' shrine;Doom'd, far oh far! from Phocis' happy shore,The vast and trackless deep to wander o'er:Alternate change of climates has he known,And felt the fierce extremes of either zone; 40Where arctic storms congeal eternal snow,Or aequinoctial Suns intensely glow.Thro' Poland, Denmark, Norway he has stray'd,And Sweden, France, and Russia each survey'd;His wand'ring steps have press'd Iberian strands, 45And Greece, and Italy's delightful lands,Nor left untrod the Tagus' golden sands:He oft has track'd the burning Lybian soil;And view'd the fruitful margin of the Nile;The fertile plains of either Asia seen; 50And of America, the wide domain,From where th' Atlantic lashes Labrador,To where Peruvian surges loudly roar:From where fam'd Sidon, on Phoenicia's plain,Stoops her proud neck beneath the Turkish chain; 55To where the Isthmus, lav'd by adverse tides,Atlantic and Pacific seas divides. ​But while he measur'd o'er th' unbounded race,In Fortune's vast illimitable chace,Adversity, companion of his way! 60Pursu'd his weary steps, with iron sway:Bid new distresses ev'ry instant grow,Marking each change of place, with change of woe.In regions where th' Almighty's scourging HandWith raging pestilence, afflicts the land; 65Where winged deaths, in dreadful myriads, fly,And fierce contagion taints the morbid sky: Or where pale famine blasts the hopeful year,Diffusing want and misery severe;Her gnawing worms corrode the human breast; 70And multiply the pangs of the distress'd:Or forming o'er the deep th' imbattl'd line,Where hostile Ships in dire commotion join;While dying victims agonize in pain,And fierce Destruction lords it o'er the main. 75Such adverse fate, in early youth indur'd,The orient dawn of mental day obscur'd;Each vivid passion of the soul, supprest,And quench'd the kindling ardor of the breast:Then censure not severe th' unvaunted song! 80Tho' jarring sounds the lab'ring verse prolong: Tho' terms uncouth shou'd strike th' offended ear,For sake of truth, the uncouth measures bear!No laurel wreaths he asks, nor does he claimTo stand recorded in the rolls of Fame: 85The muses' aid he supplicates no more;But trusts alone to Mem'ry's ample store. ​
Upborn from earth, the light idea springs,Cleaving smooth air, on intellectual wings:The sacred groves of Phocis hovers o'er, 90Castalian vales and fam'd Boeötia's shore;Corinthian and Athenian plains descries,And o'er the dreadful scene of Shipwreck flies,Then, back recoiling from the dismal sight,For tall Colonnè she directs her flight; 95Where marble columns, by rude Time defac'd;In order, on the lofty cape are plac'd;That, now o'er-grown with moss, did once sustain,In antient times, Tritonia's sacred fane;And, hence the name, the neighb'ring fields retain; 100Where, high in clouds, its topmost cliff is rear'd,Array'd in robes divine, a Nymph appear'd:Pensive her look, around her heavenly headA radiant orb of lucid glory play'd:-Her spacious wings were dipt in Iris' bow, 105Where various hues in rich profusion glow:In her right hand, an ample roll she held,Where all Antiquity stood forth reveal'd;With ev'ry wise and noble art of Man,Since first the circling hours their course began; 110Her left, a silver wand erected bore,Whose magic touch dispells Oblivion's pow'r:At sight of her, the sable Goddess shrinks,And all her deadly efficacy sinks.Borne on seraphic wings along the skies, 115Swift o'er th' immensity of space she flies; ​Unknown effects, to her decisive lawReferr'd, all hence their just conclusions draw:To things long past, a second date she gives,And hoary Time, from her, fresh youth receives: 120Coëval with, and sister of bright Fame,She shares her pow'r, and Mem'ry is her name.On the yet-roaring flood her eyes were cast,Reflecting on the fatal Shipwreck past.Soon as idea had the Goddess seen, 125She, conscious of her form, and heavenly mien,The well-known vision, instant recollects,And thus submissive, her address directs.O! elder daughter of primeval Time!By whom transmitted down, in ev'ry clime, 130Annals of ages long elaps'd, are known,And blazon'd glories spread from zone to zone;Who, from thy airy height, so late hast beenSpectatress of this melancholy scene;Say! whence this ruin'd wreck? and whither bound? 135And, whence these lifeless victims strew'd around?What dire distress was felt? what tempest blew?And of what Nation were the hapless Crew?She ceas'd, and saw her modest suit prevail;And Mem'ry thus began the piteous tale. 140
The Ship, whose ruins lie dispers'd around,From Alexandria came, to Venice bound:Of fam'd Britannia, were the fated Crew,And, from that isle, her name the Vessel drew:
​Occasion call'd to touch at Candia's shore, 145Which, blest with fav'ring winds, they soon explore:The haven enter with a prosp'rous gale,Dispatch their commerce, and prepare to sail.Eternal Pow'rs! what havoc, waste, and spoilHave various conquests made in Candia's isle! 150This region, in antiquity so fam'd,Whom circling realms with admiration nam'd,How lost, how fallen are its natives now!To Ottomans imperious yoke they bow,Whose breasts did once with gen'rous ardor glow: 155But smiling Plenty still adorns her fields,The soil, corn, wine, and wax and olives yields;The copious produce of her fertile plainsThe neighb'ring Cyclades' around maintains:Sharp Penury afflicts these wretched isles, 160There Hope ne'er dawns, Prosperity ne'er smiles::These eyes have seen, while famish'd babes complain,The barren soil a sev'nth year till'd in vain:No lovely Helens grace the wretched shore,Or Cytherëa's rival Gods adore; 165No fair Penelopes attract the eye,For whom contending Kings were proud to die:No blooming cheeks, that shame the rosy morn,Or snowy breasts the flavid nymphs adorn.Dim wou'd those charms, so fam'd in Grecian lore, 170Appear, transported to Britannia's shore.No longer raging Syrius now displaysCo-incident with Sol, his torrent rays: ​And, in his radial wheel, the circling SunThro' bright Astraëa and the Scales had run: 175Thrice ten degrees, along th' Ecliptic, gain'dOf longitude, and in the Scorpion reign'd.Four days becalm'd in Crete, they now remain;Nor any hopes of eastern gales obtain:Which, when th' autumnal Æquinox is o'er, 180And northern declination is no more,The cautious Mariner, whom sky informs,Oft deems the prelude of approaching storms.No dread of storms the Master's thoughts restrain,A fetter'd Captive to the oar of Gain! 185At midnight waking, he surveys the skies,When transient breezes from the East arise:The silver Moon diffusing livid rays,Gleam'd o'er protracted clouds, and ambient haze:A mighty Halo round the lucid Sphere, 190Cross'd and divided, did on high appear;The arch its vast diameter subtends,A semi-quadrant vertical descends:This too an harbinger of furious galesIs deem'd, tho' here no dusky frown prevails. 195The mandate giv'n, while Eurus gently blows,They heave the broad-fluk'd Anchors to the Bows[1];Uplong the slipp'ry Masts the Yards[2] ascend,And stretch'd abroad the Canvass wings extend. ​Now o'er the glassy plane, the Vessel glides, 200While azure radiance gleams along the sides:Egyptian, Thracian gales, alternate play,And round the Orient gradually decay:A calm ensues, adjacent shores they dread,The boats, with rowers mann'd, are sent a-head[3], 205With tow-ropes[4] fasten'd to the Bowsprit's[5] end;Their sweeping oars, the lusty Crew extend;And with loud shouts, the echoing mountains rend.Success attends their skill, the danger's o'er,The port is doubled, and beheld no more. 210Aurora, parting now from Tithon's bed,The hazy East with sullen beams o'erspread:No blushing gold affords a radiant ray,No glowing crimson dawn'd a happy day;The rising morn in low'ring clouds was clad, 215Thro' thicken'd air, diffusing gloomy shade:Tall Ida's tops, exalted to the skyAppear, thro' mists emerging from on high.North-east a league, the Isle of Standia bears;And westward, Freschin's woody cape appears. 220 ​From distant angles, while the transient galesAlternate blow, they trim the flagging sails;Attentive to retain the coming breeze,While, thro' a thousand changing points it plays:Now swelling stu'n-sails[6] on each side extend, 225These soon demitted, stay-sails[7] next ascend:While, to the wind adapted, all are plac'd,With yards alternate square[8] and sharply brac'd.Around th' horizon settled clouds remain'd,And now the Sun above the verge had gain'd: 230The sanguine orb, bedim'd with eastern haze,Thro' shades condens'd, emits a fiery blaze.The Pilots now an Azimuth attend,On which all courses, duly shap'd, depend:The compass and the octant ready lay, 235Reflecting planes and incident, survey;Along the arch, the gradual index slides,While Phoebus down the vertic' circle glides:He, o'er th' horizon, vibrant seems to swim,And, tangent, sweeps it with his nether limb: 240They height and polar distance thus obtain,Next latitude and declination gain;In Chiliads then, th' analogy is sought,And on the sinical triangle wrought: ​By this, magnetic variance is explor'd, 245Just angles form'd, and polar truth restor'd.While thus employ'd, beneath the lofty stern[9],A shoal of sportive dolphins they discern;Beaming from burnish'd scales refulgent rays,While all the glowing ocean seems to blaze: 250Strait, to the sport of death, the Crew repair,Dart the barb'd steel, or spread the baited snare.One, unsuspicious, glides below the chains[10],And wheels along beneath the pointed grains;A skilful marksman o'er his head suspends 255The forky prongs, and every turn attends:Unerring aim'd, th' emissive weapon flew,And, plunging, strikes the trembling victim thro':Th' upturning points his pondrous bulk sustain;He strives to disengage himself in vain; 260On deck he quivers in extatic Pain:Now, as the near approach of Death, he feels,And flitting life escapes in sanguine rills,What radiant changes strike th' astonish'd sight!What glowing hues of mingled shade and light! 265Not Phoebus orient on the rosy dawn,Decking with countless gems, the dewy lawn,Or, when he paints the west with setting rays,Such varied beauties, round the sky displays, ​As, from his sides, in bright profusion flow, 270That, now in gold empyreal seem to glow,Now beam a flaming crimson on the eye,And now assume the purple's deeper dye;Now in pellucid sapphires strike the view,And emulate the bright celestial hue: 275But here, description makes each beauty less,What terms of Art can Nature's pow'rs express?O'er the smooth bosom of the treach'rous tides,Propell'd by flatt'ring gales, the Vessel glides:Tall Ida's summit now more distant grew, 280And Jove's high hill was rising to the view;When, on the larboard quarter[11], they descryA liquid column, tow'ring, shoot on high;The foaming base extends an ample sweep,Where rolling billows wake the frighted deep: 285The fluid vortex in rotation flies,Diffusing briny vapours o'er the skies:This vast phaenomenon, whose tow'ring headIn heav'ns immers'd, embracing clouds o'erspread,In spiral wheels, as Mariners suppose, 290First rises, when the raging whirlwind blows.(The swift volution, and th' enormous train,Let physical hypotheses explain.)The horrid apparition now draws nigh,And, all around, the angry billows fly: 295The guns are prim'd; the Vessel northward veers,Till all her broadside on its center bears; ​The nitre fires; shock'd by the thund'ring sound,The air convulsive, quivers all around:And sudden, as the noise pursues the flame, 300Wide-bursting, down the horrid figure came:Th' expanding ocean trembled as it fell,And, in white foam, recoiling surges swell;In momentary mountains, heave on high;And lift th' exalted Vessel to the sky: 305Then, swift retiring in a giddy round,Bear her precipitant to hell's profound:But soon, this transient undulation o'er,The sea subsides, the whirlwinds rage no more.Inclining southward, now the rising gales, 310With humid breath, expand the swelling sails.A-breast appears the gloomy Cypress grove,That spreads its branches, near the hill of Jove:This shade, as Fame relates, in days of yore,A gorgeous temple in its center bore, 315Whose altar, sacred to th' Olympian Throne,Was visited by Votaries alone.Here too, the ruins of a tomb remain,Suppos'd the Monarch's ashes to contain:This Cretan tyrant, whose despotic sway, 320Surrounding nations, trembling, did obey;For Incest, Rape, and Villany renown'd,Was heav'n's immortal King by Poets own'd:Greece, Troy, and Rome record his endless Fame,And, hence this mountain still retains his Name. 325More southward still, th' increasing breezes veer,And, o'er th' horizon, lybic clouds appear: ​In dusky haze the solar planet low'rs,And deeper shade the noon-tide ray obscures:A train of spouting porpoises extend, 330And north-north-east their swift direction bend:In curling wreathes, they wanton on the tide,Now sport aloft, now downward swiftly glide:Their burning path awhile the surges keep,And silver traces glow along the deep. 335These fleetest coursers of the finny race,When tempest-boding clouds the sky deface,To leeward still are seen their course to form,T'elude the fury of the coming storm.With steddy gales, the lofty canvass, swell'd, 340Swift, and more swift, the yielding Ship propell'd;Borne by their force, she darts along the shore,Till Susa and Mount Paul are seen no more;And, as along the Mount of Jove they steer,The cloudy spires of Retimo appear. 345Still deeper glooms th' ethereal vault deface,The wind augments, and seas enlarge apace:The Ship, beneath her lofty pressure, reels,And bending down to starboard[12], deeply heels:The lesser sails, that court a gentle breeze, 350Are now haul'd in, the straining masts to ease.Swift on the deck the stu'n-sails all descend,Where ready Seamen from the yards unbend[13].Malacha's fore-land rises fast a-head,While clouds expanding all the sky o'er-spread: 355 ​Full from the madid south, the winds arise,And the thick scud, in swift succession, flies:Aloft, the stooping masts alternate bend,Below, the leeward gunnels[14] deep depend:The Master calls, to give the Ship relief, 360"The topsails[15] low'r, and form a single reef[16]!"Along the masts the yards descend amain,Are mann'd and reef'd, then sent aloft again.Cape Spado now, at distance, they discern,And steep Malacha less'ning, leave astern. 365
  1. ↑ Bows are the round parts in the fore-end of a Ship that meet and close in the Stem or Prow.
  2. ↑ Yards are long round pieces of timber tapering to each end; their uses are to extend the sails across the masts.
  3. ↑ A-head, any distance before the Ship.
  4. ↑ Tow-ropes have one end fast to the foremost parts of the Ship, and the other to the boats-sterns, to drag the Ship along, by rowing in the boats: Towing is chiefly used when a Ship, for want of wind, is forced toward the shore by the swell of the sea.
  5. ↑ Bow-sprit is a boom or mast which projects over the stem: its use is to carry sail in the fore-end of the Ship, to counter-ballance the sail that is set abaft, or in the hinder part; and likewise to support the fore-mast by ropes which stretch from the mast-head to the Bowsprit-end, called Stays.
  6. ↑ Studding, or steering-sails are long, narrow sails, only set in fine weather and fair winds, on the out-side of the larger square sails.
  7. ↑ Stay-sails are three-cornered sails, which run upon the stays, fitted to stand on a side or quartering wind.
  8. ↑ Yards are said to be square, when they hang right across the Ship, and braced, when they form greater or less angles with her length.
  9. ↑ Stern, the hindermost or aftmost parts of a Ship on the outside.
  10. ↑ Chains are strong plates or links of iron bolted to the timbers on each side all the masts, to which the Shrouds of the masts are fastened. (See Shrouds, Canto 2d.) There is a large plank, or thick scaffold placed edgeways on the Ship-side, thro' which they pass, in order to keep the shrouds off the upper rails and gunnels. (See Gunnels, page 15.
  11. ↑ Quarters are those parts on the outside of the Ship that reach from a-breast of the mizen-mast to the aftmost end or Stern: the larboard is the left side.
  12. ↑ Starboard, the right side of the Ship.
  13. ↑ Unbending is taking the sail from the yard.
  14. ↑ Gunnels, or Gun-whales, are the uppermost part of the Ship's side.
  15. ↑ Topsails are large square sails, of the second degree in magnitude and height, as the courses are of the first in magnitude, and the lowest.
  16. ↑ Reefs are certain spaces or divisions of the sail which are taken in or let out in proportion to the increase or diminution of the wind: they are placed parallel to the upper part of the sail, below each other, containing about a sixth part of the sail each, and are thus formed; at the bottom of each division there is a row of holes, stretching athwart the sail, through which are inserted a number of platted ropes, called points, in length, each, about twice the circumference of the yard, which bind the intermediate space of canvass in plaits close up to the yard, from end to end; the sail being lowered slack down, for that purpose.
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