The thoughts of Home, that o'er his fancy roll,
With trembling joy dilate PALEMON'S Soul;
Hope lifts his heart, before whose vivid ray
Distress recedes, and Danger melts away.
Tall IDA's summit now more distant grew,
And Jove's high hill was rising to the view:
When on the larboard quarter they descry
A liquid Column towering shoot on high;
The foaming base the angry Whirlwinds sweep,
Where curling billows rouse the fearful Deep:
Still round, and round, the fluid vortex flies,
Diffusing briny Vapours o'er the skies.
This vast Phenomenon, whose lofty head,
In Heaven immersed, embracing clouds o'erspread,
In spiral motion first, as Seamen deem,
Swells, when the raging whirlwind sweeps the stream.
The swift volution, and th' enormous train,
Let Sages versed in Nature's lore explain.
The horrid Apparition still draws nigh,
And white with foam the whirling billows fly.
The guns were primed; the Vessel northward veers,
Till her black battery on the Column bears:.
The nitre fired; and, while the dreadful sound
Convulsive shook the slumbering air around,
The watery Volume, trembling to the sky,
Burst down, a dreadful deluge, from on high!
Th' expanding Ocean trembled as it fell,
And felt with swift recoil her Surges swell;
But soon, this transient undulation o'er,
The Sea subsides, the whirlwinds rage no more.
While southward now th' increasing breezes veer,
Dark clouds incumbent on their wings appear:
Ahead they see the consecrated grove
Of cyprus, sacred once to Cretan Jove.
The Ship beneath her lofty pressure reels,
And to the freshening Gale still deeper heels.
But now, beneath the lofty Vessel's stern,
A shoal of sportive Dolphins they discern
Beaming from burnished Scales refulgent rays,
Till all the glowing Ocean seems to blaze:
In curling wreaths they wanton on the Tide,
Now bound aloft, now downward swiftly glide;
Awhile beneath the Waves their tracks remain,
And burn in silver Streams along the liquid plain.
Soon to the sport of death the Crew repair,
Dart the long lance, or spread the baited snare.
One in redoubling mazes wheels along,
And glides unhappy near the triple prong:
RODMOND, unerring, o'er his head suspends
The barbed steel, and every turn attends;
Unerring aimed, the missile weapon flew,
And, plunging, struck the fated victim through;
Th' upturning points his ponderous bulk sustain,
On Deck he struggles with convulsive pain:
But while his heart the fatal javelin thrills,
And flitting life escapes in sanguine rills,
What radiant changes strike th' astonished sight!
What glowing hues of mingled shade and light!
Not equal beauties gild the lucid West
With parting beams all o'er profusely drest,
Not lovelier colours paint the vernal Dawn,
When orient dews impearl th' enamelled lawn;
Than from his sides in bright suffusion flow,
That now with gold empyreal seem to glow;
Now in pellucid sapphires meet the view,
And emulate the soft celestial hue;
Now beam a flaming crimson on the eye,
And now assume the purple's deeper dye :
But here description clouds each shining ray;
What terms of Art can Nature's powers display!
The lighter Sails, for Summer winds and seas,
Are now dismissed, the straining masts to ease;
Swift on the deck the stud-sails all descend,
Which ready Seamen from the Yards unbend;
The Boats then hoisted in are fixed on board,
And on the Deck with fastening Gripes secured.
The watchful ruler of the helm no more
With fixed attention eyes th' adjacent shore,
But by the oracle of truth below,
The wonderous Magnet, guides the wayward prow.
The powerful Sails, with steady breezes swelled,
Swift and more swift the yielding bark impelled :
Across her stem the parting Waters run,
As Clouds, by Tempests wafted, pass the Sun.
Impatient thus she darts along the shore,
Till Ida's mount, and Jove's, are seen no more;
And, while aloof from RETIMO she steers,
MALECA foreland full in front appears.
Wide o'er yon Isthmus stands the cypress Grove,
That once inclosed the hallowed fane of Jove;
Here too, memorial of his name! is found
A Tomb in marble ruins on the ground:
This gloomy tyrant, whose despotic sway
Compelled the trembling Nations to obey,
Through GREECE for murder, rape, and incest known,
The Muses raised to high Olympus' throne;
For oft, alas! their venal Strains adorn
The Prince, whom blushing Virtue holds in scorn :
Still ROME and GREECE record his endless fame,
And hence yon Mountain yet retains his name.
But see! in confluence borne before the Blast,
Clouds rolled on clouds the dusky Noon o'ercast:
The blackening Ocean curls, the Winds arise,
And the dark Scud in swift succession flies.
While the swoln canvass bends the Masts on high,
Low in the wave the leeward cannon lie.
The Master calls, to give the Ship relief,
The Topsails lower, and form a single reef!
Each lofty Yard with slackened cordage reels;
Rattle the creaking blocks and ringing wheels.
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