The Shipwreck (Falconer, 1762)/The Shipwreck/Canto 3

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CANTO III.

ARGUMENT.

  • The mizen-mast being cleared away, the Ship veers before the wind
  • Appearance of the Island of Falconora
  • Excursion to the surrounding nations of Greece, &c. famous in Antiquity
  • Athens
  • Socrates
  • Plato
  • Aristides
  • Solon
  • Corinth
  • its Architecture
  • Present condition
  • Sparta
  • Leonidas
  • Invasion of Xerxes
  • Lycurgus
  • Epaminondas
  • Modern appearance
  • Parallel of ancient and modern Inhabitants
  • Arcadia
  • Its former happiness and fertility
  • Its present misery
  • Ithaca
  • Ulysses and Penelope
  • Argos and Mycenae
  • Agamemnon and Clytemnestra
  • Macronisi
  • Lemnos
  • Vulcan and Venus
  • Delos
  • Apollo and Diana
  • Troy
  • Paris and Helen
  • Sestos
  • Leander and Hero
  • Temple of Apollo described
  • Parnassus
  • Helicon
  • The Muses
  • Their Power and Happiness
  • Return to the Ship
  • Prodigious Tempest
  • Darkness
  • Rain
  • Meteors
  • Lightning
  • Thunder
  • Approach of Day
  • Discovery of Land
  • Ship brought broadside to the shore
  • Bowsprit, Fore-mast and main-top-mast carried away
  • Strikes a rock
  • Splits asunder
  • Fate of the Crew Appear.
Now from the side the cumbrous ruins clear,The falling prow at last began to veer:"Square, fore and aft, the yards! the Master cries,"While round before th' enlarging[1] wind she flies,"You Timoneers! her motion close attend, 5"For, on your steerage, all our lives depend: ​"So, steddy! meet her, watch the curving prow,"Nor tow'rd the east or west bring either bow:"Starboard again! her head now eastward turns,"Starboard, canorous, from the helm returns: 10"Now port again!" th' attentive Chief commands,To port, the wheel flies thro' their glowing hands;While dash'd apart by her dividing prow,Like burning adamant, the surges glow:The spumy waves redoubled ire discharge, 15And wider still their raging jaws enlarge:The groaning Vessel rolls on either side,And dips her gunnels in the yawning tide:Four hours across the flood she scudding flew,When Falconera's rugged cliffs they view; 20Faintly along the larboard bow descry'd,As o'er its mountain tops the lightnings glide.In dire Amazement, rivetted they stand,And hear the surges beat the rocky strand,But scarce perceiv'd, when past the beam it flies, 25Swift as the rapid Eagle cleaves the skies.That Danger 'scap'd, reflects a feeble joy,And a faint pleasure gleams in every eye;As the declining sun at close of day,Emits on gelid hills a languid ray: 30But short the bliss those transient Hopes bestow!Sad harbinger, alas! of greater Woe.Say, Memory! from whose unerring tongueInstructive flows the animated song,What regions now the scudding Ship surround? 35Regions in former ages long renown'd; ​That, once the Poets theme, the Muses Joy,Now lost in scatter'd desolation lie.For they whose sad Distress these lays deplore,Unskill'd in Grecian or in Roman lore, 40Unconscious, pass along each famous shore.Perhaps some Youth, whose life's continu'd pageIs one sad tale of Fate's vindictive Rage,Tho' doom'd, unhappy! 'mongst the number'd Crew,An ampler share of sacred Science knew; 45On him, perhaps she dawn'd, serenely bright,Till cruel Fate o'ercast the orient light;Bid swelling clouds the pure expanse invade,And low'ring Tempests spread a horrid shade;Nipt by whose freezing breath the flow'rs decay, 50That bloom'd beneath fair Science' genial ray:In vain might Phoebus' self his breast inspire,If fatal torrents quench'd the kindling fire;In vain th' excursive genius would exploreTh' antiquities of nations, now no more; 55In vain would penetrate the realm unknown,And search the regions of th' untravel'd zone:Obscurity o'er his devoted head,Her sable veil in Lethè dipt, had spread:What boots it tho' he visit ev'ry shore, 60So long renown'd in soft Pierian lore,If stern Adversity's severe commandDebar his entrance to each famous land;With ruthless Ire, his onward steps oppose,And ev'ry gate of Hope against him close? 65 ​Then sing, O Goddess! those surrounding states,Whose glory, Fame with brazen tongue relates.Immortal Athens first in Ruin spread,Contiguous lies, at Port Liono's head:Great Source of Science! whose immortal Name 70Stands foremost in the glorious roll of Fame:Here godlike Socrates and Plato shone,And, firm to Truth, eternal Honour won;The first, for Virtue's cause his Life resign'd,By Heav'n, pronounc'd the wisest of mankind; 75The last proclaim'd the never-dying soul,No fatal Doom to limits could controul.Just Aristides here maintain'd the causeWhose sacred precepts shine thro' Solon's Laws:Solon the wise, the philosophic Sage, 80Who fled from Pisistratus' cruel Rage.Of all her noble fabrics, now aloneRemains a desolated hill of stone.The wand'ring Stranger, near the port descriesA snow-white Lion, of enormous size, 85Of antique marble; hence the haven's name,Unknown to modern Grecians whence it came.This distant forty spheric miles appears,And two points west of the meridian bears.Next, in the gulf of Engia, Corinth lies, 90Whose gorgeous structures seem'd to strike the skies:Who, tho' by Tyrant-Victors oft subdu'd,Greece, Egypt, Rome with Admiration view'd:Her name for Architecture long renown'd,Spread, like the foliage, which her columns crown'd: 95 ​But wide dispers'd in horrid Ruin now,North-west lies eighty miles upon the bow.Then, further westward, Misitra appears,Which on Morëa's shore its fabrics rears.Here all thy glory, Lacedaemon! fell 100From Fame's exalted summit low as Hell:Thy great Leonidas, alas! no moreThro' all Achaia bids thy thunder roar.When mighty Xerxes led in proud arrayEmbattled millions subject to his sway, 105Greece shudder'd as the potent Chief drew near,And Macedonia shrunk beneath his spear:Leonidas with Sparta's glorious band,Oppos'd him dreadless, on Thessalia's strand;Tall Oeta saw the vanquish'd Tyrant's host. 110In slaughter'd myriads gasp on Grecia's Coast.With Envy haughty Asia heard thy Fame,Crete, Thebes and Athens trembled at thy Name.Thy state, supported by Lycurgus' laws,Gain'd, like thine arms, superlative applause. 115E'en great Epaminondas strove in vainTo curb thy spirit with a Theban chain:But ah! how low that free-born spirit now!Thy abject Sons to haughty Tyrants bow:A false, degen'rate, superstitious race! 120Thy land they burthen, and thy Name disgrace.This wealthy City, once so high renown'd,To westward twenty measur'd leagues is found.Not distant far, Arcadia's blest domains,Peloponnésus' circling shore contains. 125 ​Thrice happy spot! where Ceres, bounteous Maid!With lavish Plenty fill'd the fertile glade:While fragrant Zephyrs fann'd the flow'ry plains,There, guiltless Pleasures crown'd the happy Swains:Now, sad reverse! Oppression's iron hand 130Subjects her natives, and despoils her land.Westward of these, beyond the Isthmus, liesThy long-sought Isle, O! Ithacus the wise;Where fair Penelope forsaken reign'd,Fam'd for the spotless Virtue she retain'd; 135Tho', guarded only by a youthful Son,Her lord, Ulysses, long to Ilion gone,The Insolence of Suitor-Kings repell'd,And undefil'd the nuptial contract held;True to her Vows, and resolutely chast, 140Met Arts with Art, and triumph'd at the last.Distant thrice twenty leagues this Isle appears,And, from the north, thrice ten degrees it bears.Need I of Argos or Mycenae sing,That sent to Dardan plains the Grecian King? 145Unhappy Chief! who on a hostile shore,Fatigues and Dangers ten long winters bore;And, by a perjur'd friend and faithless wife,In lieu of hop'd for Pleasures, lost thy Life.Adjacent to Arcadia stretch these plains, 150And, o'er their realms, a pow'rful Tyrant reigns.Next, Delos in th' Aegëan Sea appears,And westward seventy nautic miles it bears.High honour'd Isle! on whose immortal shore,Phoebus and Cynthia, fair Latona bore; 155 ​Thy sacred strand surrounding Greece rever'd!Thy hallow'd groves e'en distant Persia fear'd!But now, a desert, unfrequented land,No human footstep marks the trackless sand.Here Macronisi is adjacent seen, 160Where adverse winds detain'd the Spartan Queen;For whom, in Arms combin'd, the Grecian host,With Vengeance fir'd, invaded Phrygia's coast:For whom, so long they labour'd to destroyThe lofty turrets of beleaguer'd Troy: 165Here, drove by furious storms, from Ilium lost,Th' unhappy, faithless Helen first was tost:The port an Image bears of Parian stone,Th' Antiquity to present Greeks unknown.Twelve leagues its distance on the starboard bow, 170Twice ten degrees its bearing from the prow.If sixty leagues that linear space extends,An equal angle Lemnos' shore subtends:Where proud Saturnia crippled Vulcan hurl'd,From high Olympus, to this nether world: 175Here his eternal anvils first he rear'd,Then, forg'd by Cyclopean Art, appear'dThunders, that shook the world with dread alarms,And, form'd by Skill divine, immortal Arms.Here, with the vilest of th' empyreal race, 180A Wretch deform'd, devoid of ev'ry Grace,In Wedlock liv'd the beauteous Queen of Love:Can such sensations heav'nly bosoms move?A little eastward lies the Dardan shore,That once th' imperial tow'rs of Ilium bore: ​Ilium forever fam'd from clime to clime, 185Thro' the long records of succeeding Time!Whose royal bulwarks, eager to defend,Protecting Gods did oft from Heav'n descend:Tho' Chiefs unnumber'd in her cause were slain,Gods, Kings and Heroes sought with Fate in vain. 190This refuge of perfidious Helen's shame,At midnight was involv'd in Grecian flame:By Time's deep-piercing coulter harrow'd o'er,Unknown the spot that Troy's proud City bore:No trace of all her Glory now remains, 195But corn and vines still decorate her plains.Silver Scammander laves the verdant shore,Scammander, oft o'erflow'd with hostile gore!Not distant far from Ilion's famous land,Aegëan surges lash the Sestian strand, 200Where beauteous Hero from the turret's heightDisplay'd her cresset each revolving night,Whose gleam directed lov'd Leander o'erThe raging Hellespont, from Asia's shore;Till, in a fated hour, on Thracia's coast, 205She saw her hapless Lover's body tost:Then felt her heart unutterable Woe,From her bright eyes incessant fountains flow;Raving in all the pangs of wild Despair,She beat her snowy breast, the tore her hair; 210On dear Leander's name, in vain, the cry'd,Then headlong plung'd into the parting tide:The parting tide receiv'd the lovely weight,And proudly flow'd, exulting in its freight. ​If we the north-east quadrant first bisect, 215Then, from the center seventy leagues project,The linear distance which that angle bounds,The fertile plains of ruin'd Troy surrounds.Now leaving Phrygian lands, we next explore,Crossing Aegëan Seas, the Delphic shore: 220Here Phoebus' sacred Oracle was rear'd,Whom ev'ry Clime, in ev'ry Age, rever'd;Of Parian marble was the gorgeous pile,August the fabric! elegant its stile!The roof was on Corinthian columns rear'd, 225Where tablatures of sculptur'd gold appear'd;The shafts of clouded porphyry were fram'd,And round the concave dome bright jewels flam'd:On brazen hinges, turn'd the silver doors,And checquer'd marble pav'd the hallow'd floors: 230Apollo's priests, inspir'd by Pow'r Divine,Led trembling Votaries before the shrine;Against the occidental ray 'twas plac'd,With stringed lyres and living laurels grac'd:Here Aesculapius' snake erects his crest, 235And burning gems bright sparkle on his breast;From the fierce splendor of his blazing eye,Diseases, Pestilence and Languor fly:Around the fane, engrav'd by Hands divine,The Sciences and Arts conspicuous shine: 240The Area of th' extensive base that boreThis altar, ninety cubits measur'd o'er.Its vertex thirty cubits from the ground,By rails of polish'd gold impal'd around. ​This Delphic Oracle by all implor'd, 245Which Heroes, Priests, Philosophers ador'd,Tho' once in Glory lifted to the skies,Now in one undistinguish'd Ruin lies.Contiguous here, with hallow'd woods o'erspread,Renown'd Parnassus rears its honour'd head: 250There roses blossom in eternal spring,And strains celestial, feather'd warblers sing;Apollo here bestows th' unfading wreath,Here Zephyrs aromatic odours breathe;They o'er Castalian plains diffuse perfume, 255Where o'er the vales perennial laurels bloom.Here with immortal Harps the sacred NineExalt to extacy their Songs divine;In vocal melody their notes decay,And melt, to softest Love, the dying lay. 260Their numbers ev'ry mental Storm controul,And lull to Harmony th' afflicted Soul;With heav'nly Balm, the tortur'd Breast compose,And sooth the Agony of latent woes.The verdant shades that Helicon surround, 265On rosy gales, seraphic tunes resound:Perpetual summers crown the happy hours,Sweet, as the breath, that fans Elysian flow'rs:Here Pleasure dances in an endless round,And Love and Joy ineffable abound. 270Adieu! ye flow'ry vales, and fragrant scenes,Delightful bow'rs, and ever-vernal greens!Ye winds that o'er Aönian vallies blow,Ye lucid streams that round Pieria flow; ​Ye Virgin-Daughters of the Sun, who dwell 275In blest Boeötian realms, a long farewel!From happy realms reluctant now I go,To raging Elements and scenes of Woe.Now o'er the briny Deep, impetuous bore,The scudding Vessel stem'd th' Athenian shore, 280The Pilots o'er the quarters, nice inspectThe foll'wing surges, and her course direct;The Steersmen ev'ry bidden turn apply,And round the whirling spokes successive fly:Thus they conduct the flying Ship before 528Th' impelling Floods that bear her to the shore;Sparkling they rise, in fiery radiance bright,The stern o'er-tow'ring with enormous height:The raging Storms with madd'ning Fury blend,And from on high, huge Cataracts descend: 290At each mast-head, diffusing livid rays,Amidst the gloom volatic meteors blaze:A dreadful contrast Heav'n's expanse invades,Now all on Fire, now wrapt in tenfold shades;Vast sheets of Flame still dart intenser Light, 295Redoubling all the Horrors of the Night:Approaching Thunders, roaring now on high,In dread concussion rend the vaulted Sky;While Heav'n convulsing feels the dire discharge,Loud, and more loud, the crashing peals enlarge; 300The Earth all trembling, groans from Pole to Pole,And Nature shudders at the horrid roll.The scene replete with Terror seems to riseIn ev'ry striking form before my eyes; ​But ah! th' enervate Song attempts in vain, 305The mighty Theme unequal to sustain.The Morning now extends her azure ray,Diffusing o'er the East a gloomy day;When, from the lofty top emerg'd, they seeThe rising hills of Greece beneath the lee; 310Th' uneven mountains of St. George appear,Whose eastern points on the meridian bear."Port all ye can!" the Pilots now command,T' avoid, if possible, the fatal strand.Across the raging tide the Vessel flies, 315And, more enlarg'd, St. George's hills arise;High o'er the rest, a conic Cliff is seen,That over-looks a wild and barren green.Nearer and nearer now the Danger grows,And all their Skill relentless Fates oppose; 320For, when the prow more eastward they direct,Enormous floods burst o'er the quiv'ring deck:While, flying round, unable to subdue,At ev'ry curve, they dread to broach her too[2];Alarming Thought! for now no more a-lee, 325The trembling side could bear th' augmented Sea:And, if pursuing waves the feud before,Headlong she runs upon the horrid shore:A shore where shelves and hidden rocks abound,And Death appears in various forms around. 330 ​Thus, while as yet an Hope of Safety beams,They steer the Ship between the dire extremes.Not half so dreadful to Aeneas' eyes,The Straits of Sicily were seen to rise;When Palinurus from the helm descry'd 335The rocks of Scylla on the eastern side;While tow'rd the west, with fatal yawn disclos'd,His onward course, Charybdis' Gulf oppos'd;The double Dangers he alternate view'd,And cautiously the arduous path pursu'd. 340Thus they attempt the eastern shoals to clear,Which close before the larboard [3]beam appear.With terrible irruption bursting o'erThe marble cliffs, tremendous surges roar:Along the vales the raging Tempest raves, 345And hollow rocks repeat the roar of waves.Should once her bottom strike that cruel shore,The parting Ship that instant is no more;Nor she alone, but with her all the CrewBeyond Relief, are doom'd to perish too: 350But hap'ly she escapes that dreadful strand,Tho' scarce a furlong distant from the land:Swift, as the arrow from the Scythian bow,The sparkling surge divides beneath her prow;And, forward hurry'd with impetuous haste, 355Borne on the Tempest's wings, the Isle she past.In all the racking Agony of Mind,They Regions of Salvation leave behind. ​So gazing from the drear abodes of Hell,Where Sorrow and eternal Anguish dwell, 360Such cruel pangs torment the damned breast,That sees remote the mansions of the Blest.But now, Athenian mountains they descry,And tall Colonne rears its head on high;In dreadful form, the curving beech appears, 365The final goal of all their Hopes and Fears!The Elements with tenfold Rage contend,And Storm, Rain, Fire and Waves tempestuous blend:The Mariners, aghast with Terror, seeApproaching Ruin stretch'd beneath the lee: 370The refluent blood congeals in all their veins,In ev'ry look, intense Confusion reigns:Fear, Hope and Agony their Souls possess,While this new Danger makes all others less:The Ship, while now the great event draws nigh, 375Still more accelerated seems to fly:With horrid yawn, along the surge-lash'd strand,The never-closing jaws of Death expand:The fate-fraught moment now approaches fast,While thronging Seamen climb each shiv'ring mast: 380The Vessel must no longer stem the land,And, "hard a starboard!" is the last command:While ev'ry suppliant Voice to Heav'n applies,The prow, like lightning, to the westward flies;The yards to starboard all were sharply brac'd; 385Twelve Sailors up the fore-cat-harpings[4] haste; ​Fatal Asylum! charg'd with desp'rate woe,For, while she pitching, dips the plunging prow,Down-press'd by wat'ry weight the bowsprit bends,And loos'ning from the stem, deep-crashing rends: 390Beneath the bow the floating Ruins lie;The fore-mast totters unsustain'd on high,And, as she rises on th' up-lifting Sea,Men, masts, yards, rigging tumble o'er the lee;While, in the common wreck, the twisting stay[5] 395Drags the Main-top-mast by the cap away.They try opposing floods to mount in vain,And struggling, would the Vessel's side regain:Bereft of strength, they gasp for parting breath,Then yield exhausted to the stroke of Death: 400The tumbling waters close around each head,And sink them helpless to an oozy bed.Those who remain, the weather-shrouds embrace,Nor longer mourn their lost Companions case:Self-Pity in their breasts alone has room, 405Transfix'd with Terror at th' approaching Doom:Alternate Passions in their bosoms rise,And fierce transitions sparkle from their eyes:To Heav'n, their only Refuge, they apply;But, Heav'n relentless! does all Aid deny. 410Ye sacred Shades! whose Precepts teach the heartTo rule the Passions by celestial Art;To dry the tears Affliction bids to flow,And Virtue and Felicity bestow; ​To smile undaunted at approaching Death, 415And unconcern'd resign departing breath.Since your exalted speculations fail,And those refin'd instructions nought avail;Ah! say what boots th' elab'rate lectures here?Where Virtue, Courage, Hope submit to Fear. 420Immortal Zeno's self would trembling, seeInexorable Fate beneath the lee:And Epictetus at the sight in vainAttempt his stöic Virtue to retain:Had Socrates, who justly claim'd a place 425Amongst the wisest of the human race,Spectator of such various Horrors been,His Soul had stagger'd at the dreadful scene.In vain, alas! the axes were prepar'd,For ev'ry surge o'er-whelms the quiv'ring yard; 430In dire cascade the rushing torrents roar,And swelling, bounding, foam redoubled to the shore:Lifted on gath'ring billows, up she flies,Her shatter'd top half-buried in the skies;Borne o'er a latent reef, the hull impends, 435Then thund'ring on the marble craggs descends:Down, on the vale of Death, with horrid cries,The fated Wretches trembling, cast their eyes,Lost to all Hope, when lo! a second shockBilges the splitting Vessel on the rock; 440Her groaning bulk the dire concussion feels,And with up heaving floods she nods and reelsRepeated strokes her crashing ribs divide,She loosens, parts and spreads in ruin o'er the tide. ​O! were it mine, with tuneful Maro's Art, 445To wake to Sympathy the feeling heart;Like him, the smooth and mournful Verse to dress,In all the Pomp of exquisite Distress!Then, try'd in ev'ry peril I relate,Then might I sing the Horrors of their Fate, 450Who, on the verge of Death, in vain deploreImpervious Dangers on a leeward shore.As o'er the surf, the bending main-mast hung,The shrouds still grasping, thirty Seamen clung,Some on a broken cragg were struggling cast, 455And grappled there by oozy tangles fast:Awhile they bear th' o'erwhelming surges' beat,And wage unequal combat with their Fate;Benumb'd and feeble, they at length foregoTheir slipp'ry hold, and sink to shades below. 460Some from the main-yard-arm reluctant thrown,Dash'd on the reefs, expire without a groan.Four Youths depending on their Skill, in vain,On oars and rafts descend into the Main,Of whom, by sweeping surges one is drove 465Ashore, all maim'd, a ling'ring Death to prove;The rest a speedier end of Mis'ries knew,And press'd the stony beech, a lifeless Crew.Next from the rigging, terrible to tell!Shook from their hold, nine gasping Sailors fell: 470With these the Chief and second in commandIncreas'd the numbers on the death-fraught strand.Five grapple yet secure the floating mast,Of all the former gallant Crew the last: ​Till two no longer can their grasp retain, 475But sink immers'd, and never rise again.The rest surviving, whom the surf up-bore,Untouching rocks, were hap'ly wash'd ashore:And here they found, reclining on the strand,The first advent'rous Youth who gain'd the land; 480Who, when his former Comrades still aliveHe saw, with languid Joy his eyes revive;Then, with a feeble groan, resign'd his Breath,And peaceful sunk into the arms of Death:On long-lost Sons, thus dying Fathers cast 485A parting-look, then smiling breathe their last.Rous'd by the Tempest, and the blust'ring Night,A troop of Grecians mount Colonnè's height;When, gazing down with Horror on the flood,Full to their view, a scene of Ruin stood; 490The surf with mangled Bodies cover'd o'er,And those yet breathing on the sea-beat shore:Tho' lost to Science and the nobler Arts,Yet Nature's lore inform'd their simple Hearts:Strait down the vale their hast'ning steps they bend, 495The wretched Suff'rers helpful to attend.Three still alive, in mournful plight they find,Benumb'd and shiv'ring, on a rock reclin'd:Th' affected Natives, touch'd with gen'rous pain,The feeble Seamen in their arms sustain; 500With pitying sighs, their hapless lot deplore,And lead them trembling, from the fatal shore.

The END.

  1. ↑ The wind is said to enlarge when it veers from the side towards the stern, which it consequently must as the Ship veers before it.
  2. ↑ The great difficulty of steering the Ship before the sea at this time is occasioned by its striking her on the quarter when the makes the least angle on either side, which often forces her stern round, and brings her broadside to the wind and sea, and is only an effect of the same cause that is explained before. See the last Note of Canto 2d.
  3. ↑ Any distance directly abreast of the Ship, or on a line with her beams, is called on the Beam; before the Beam, is any angle measured from that right line towards the stem.
  4. ↑ Cat-harpings are ropes which draw in the shrouds parallel to the yard, that the yard may the more easily be braced sharp.
  5. ↑ The Main-top-mast stay comes to the Fore-mast head, and consequently depends upon the Fore-mast as its support.
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