Long pondering in their minds each fear'd event,
At last to furl the courses they consent;
That done, to reef the mizen next agree,
And try beneath it sidelong in the sea.

Now down the mast the yard they lower away,
Then jears and topping-lift secure belay;
The head, with doubling canvass fenced around,
In balance near the lofty peak they bound;
The reef enwrapp'd, the inserting knittles tied,
The halyards throt and peak are next applied—
The order given, the yard aloft they sway'd,
The brails relax'd, the extended sheet belay'd;
The helm its post forsook, and, lash'd a-lee,
Inclined the wayward prow to front the sea.

IV. When sacred Orpheus on the Stygian coast, With notes divine deplored his consort lost; 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 infernal powers with strains of heavenly love, Than mine, in ornamental verse to dress

The harshest sounds that terms of art express:

Such arduous toil sage Dædalus endured

In mazes, self-invented, long immured,
Till genius her superior aid bestow'd,
To guide him through that intricate abode-

Thus, long imprison'd in a rugged way

Where Phoebus' daughters never aim'd to stray, The muse, that tuned to barbarous sounds her string,

Now spreads, like Dædalus, 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 appall, 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 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 the 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 strew'd 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, yawn'd 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, the 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 shatter'd 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 undiminish'd 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 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 the 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,
Fill'd 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 the 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