No longer fawns beneath the fair disguise,
But like a ruffian on his quarry flies:
Toss'd 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:
E'en so, caparison'd in gaudy pride,
The bounding vessel dances on the tide.
Fierce and more fierce the gathering tempest grew, South, and by west, the threatening demon blew; Auster's resistless force all air invades,
And every rolling wave more ample spreads:
The ship no longer can her topsails bear;
No hopes of milder weather now appear.
Bowlines and halyards are cast off again,
Cluelines haul'd down, and sheets let fly amain:
Embrail'd each topsail, and by braces squared,
The seamen climb aloft, and man each yard;
They furl'd the sails, and pointed to the wind
The yards, 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 the' unskilful still appears,
The' expert he praises, and the timid cheers.
Now some, to strike topgallant yards attend,
Some, travellers up the weather backstays send,
At each masthead the top-ropes others bend:
The parrels, lifts, and cluelines soon are gone,
Topp'd and unrigg'd, they down the backstays run;
The yards secure along the booms were laid,
And all the flying ropes aloft belay'd:
Their sails reduced, and all the rigging clear,
A while the crew relax from toils severe;
Awhile their spirits, with fatigue oppress'd,
In vain expect the' alternate hour of rest-
But with redoubling force the tempests blow,
And watery hills in dread succession flow;
A dismal shade o'ercast the frowning skies,
New troubles grow; fresh difficulties rise;
No season this from duty to descend,
'All hands on deck' must now the storm attend.
His race perform'd, the sacred lamp of day
Now dipp'd in western clouds his parting ray:
His languid fires, half lost in ambient haze,
Refract along the dusk a crimson blaze;
Till deep immerged the sickening orb descends,
And cheerless night o'er heaven her reign extends:
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 whole courses bear,
To reef them now becomes the master's care;
The sailors, summon'd aft, all ready stand,
And man the' enfolding brails at his command:
But here the doubtful officers dispute,
Till skill and judgment prejudice confute:
For Rodmond, to new methods still a foe,
Would first, at all events, the sheet let go;
To long tried practice obstinately warm,
He doubts conviction, and relies on form.
This Albert and Arion disapprove,
And first to brail the tack up firmly move:
'The watchful seaman, whose sagacious eye
On sure experience may with truth rely,
Who from the reigning cause foretells the' 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 yardarm.'
So Albert spoke; to windward, at his call,
Some seamen the cluegarnet stand to haul-
The tack's eased off, while the involving clue
Between the pendent blocks ascending flew;
The sheet and weather brace they now stand by,
The lee cluegarnet and the buntlines ply;
Then, all prepared,' Let go the sheet!' he cries-
Loud rattling, jarring, through the blocks it flies!
Shivering at first, till, by the blast impell'd,
High o'er the lee yardarm the canvass swell'd;
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 above the yard o'erhaul the tye,
Below, the downhaul tackle others ply;
Jears, lifts, and brails a seaman each attends,
And down the mast its mighty yard descends:
When lower'd sufficient they securely brace,
And fix the rolling tackle in its place;
The reeflines and their earings now prepared,
Mounting on pliant shrouds they man the yard:
Far on the' extremes appear two able hands,
For no inferior skill this task demands.
To windward, foremost, young Arion strides,
The lee yardarm the gallant boatswain rides:
Each earing to its cringle first they bend,
The reefband then along the yard extend;
The circling earing round the' extremes entwined,
By outer and by inner turns they bind;
The reeflines next, from hand to hand received,
Through eyeletholes and roban-legs were reeved;
The folding reefs in plaits inroll'd they lay,
Extend the worming lines, and ends belay.
Hadst thou, Arion! held the leeward post
While on the yard by mountain billows toss'd,
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 aloft the order those attend
To furl the mainsail, or on deck descend,
A sea, upsurging with stupendous roll,
To instant ruin seems to doom the whole;
O, friends, secure your hold!' Arion cries-
It comes all dreadful! down the vessel lies
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