Than mine, in Ornamental Verse to dress
The harshest sounds that terms of art express:
Such arduous toil sage DEDALUS endured,
In mazes, self-invented, long immured,
Till Genius her superior aid bestow'd,
To guide him through that intricate abode—
Thus, long imprisoned in a rugged way
Where PHOEBUS' daughters never aimed to stray,
The Muse, that tuned to barbarous sounds her string,
Now spreads, like DEDALUS, a bolder wing;
The Verse begins in softer strains to flow,
Replete with sad variety of woe.
As yet, amid this elemental war,
Where Desolation in his gloomy car
Triumphant rages round the starless void,
And Fate on every billow seems to ride;
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 at 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;
Though every rising Wave more dreadful grows,
And in succession dire the Deck o'erflows;
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;
They, with severe fatigue alone opprest,
Would fain indulge an interval of rest.
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;
Across the geometric Plane expands
The compasses to circumjacent lands;
Ungrateful task! for, no asylum found,
Death yawns on every leeward shore around.- .
While ALBERT thus, with horrid doubts dismayed,
The geometric distances surveyed,
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 dissevered 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 shattered 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 ;
Torn from their planks the cracking ring-bolts drew,
And gripes and lashings all asunder flew ;
Companion, Binacle, in floating wreck,
With Compasses and Glasses strewed the Deck;
The balanced Mizen, rending to the head,
In fluttering fragments from its bolt-rope fled;
The Sides convulsive shook on groaning Beams,
And, rent with labour, yawned their pitchy Seams.
They sound the Well, and, terrible to hear!
Five feet immersed along the Line appear:
At either Pump they ply the clanking brake,
And, turn by turn, th' ungrateful office take:
RODMOND, ARION, and PALEMON here
At this sad Task all diligent appear―
As some strong Citadel begirt with foes
Tries long the tide of ruin to oppose,
Destruction near her spreads 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;
It breaks! it bursts before the cannonade!
And following hosts the shattered Domes invade :
Her inmates long repel the hostile Flood,
And shield their sacred charge in streams of blood;
So the brave Mariners their Pumps attend,
And help incessant, by rotation, lend;
But all in vain! for now the sounding Cord,
Updrawn, an undiminished depth explored.
Nor this severe distress is found alone,
The Ribs opprest by ponderous cannon groan;
Deep rolling from the watery volume's height,
The tortur'd 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:
For this, one remedy is only known,
From the torn Ship her metal must be thrown;
Eventful Task! which last distress requires,
And dread of instant Death alone inspires:
For, while intent the yawning decks to ease,
Filled ever and anon with rushing Seas,
Some fatal billow with recoiling sweep
May whirl 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,
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