Various and vast, sublime in all its forms, When lull'd by zephyrs, or when roused by storms (1), The ebbing tide has left upon its place; (1) ["Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty form Calm or convulsed-in breeze, or gale, or storm, Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime Dark-heaving; - boundless, endless, and sublime - Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made; each zone Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone." BYRON.] (2) Of the effect of these mists, known by the name of fog-banks, wonderful and, indeed, incredible relations are given; but their property of appearing to elevate ships at sea, and to bring them in view, is, I believe, generally acknowledged. (3) [One of the most remarkable facts respecting aërial images, presented itself to Mr. Scoresby, in a voyage to Greenland, in 1822. Having seen an inverted image of a ship in the air, he directed to it his telescope; he was able to discover it to be his father's ship, which was at the time below the horizon. "It was," says he, "so well defined, that I could distinguish, by a telescope, every sail, the general rig of the ship, and its particular character; insomuch, that I confidently pronounced it to be my father's ship, the Fame, which it afterwards proved to be; though, on comparing notes with my father, I found that our relative position at the time gave a distance from one another of very nearly thirty miles, being about seventeen miles beyond the horizon, and some leagues beyond the limit of direct vision."- BREWSTER.] Then the broad bosom of the ocean keeps As an awaken'd giant with a frown Might show his wrath, and then to sleep sink down. View now the Winter-storm! above, one cloud, Black and unbroken, all the skies o'ershroud; Th' unwieldy porpoise through the day before Had roll'd in view of boding men on shore; And sometimes hid and sometimes show'd his form, Dark as the cloud, and furious as the storm. All where the eye delights, yet dreads to roam, Is restless change; the waves so swell'd and steep, May watch the mightiest till the shoal they reach, Curl'd as they come, they strike with furious force, Swims with her brood, or flutters in the spray; And sports at ease on the tempestuous main. (2) (1) ["A prospect of the ocean inspires Mr. Crabbe with congenial sublimity. The winter-storm is detailed with a masterly and interesting exactness."-GIFFORD.] (2) [The storm-petrel is the true Mother Carey's chicken' of the sailors, and also the 'witch,' the 'spency,' the 'storm-finch,' and a variety of other names, the abundance of which shows, that it is at once a bird of common occurrence and of some interest. During its Pelasgic period, it is seen on most parts of the seas, especially those on the north, west, and south-west of Britain, where it is the last bird to leave the outward-bound ship, and the first to meet ships returning home. It plays about the vessels, and outstrips their swiftest course, skimming the surface of the water with equal ease and grace, and tipping so regularly with wings and feet, that she appears to be running on all-fours. The wings do not, however, get wet or splash, and the bird can make wing in any direction of a moderate wind, apparently with very little fatigue.- MUDIE.] (8) [Wild-ducks fly at a considerable height in the air, and in the form of inclined lines or triangles. When they rest or sleep on the water, some of the band are always awake, to watch for the common safety, and to sound the alarm on the approach of danger Hence they are with difficulty surprised; and hence the fowler, who goes in pursuit of them, requires to exert all his cunning, and frequently no inconsiderable degree of toil and patience. - SHAW.] Oft in the rough opposing blast they fly Far back, then turn, and all their force apply, cry; Or clap the sleek white pinion to the breast, Darkness begins to reign; the louder wind "A seaman's body: there'll be more to-night!" Hark! to those sounds! they're from distress at sea: How quick they come! What terrors may there be ! Lights, signs of terror, gleaming from the stern; (1) [Water-fowl, in a peculiar manner, discover, in their flight, some determined aim. They eagerly coast the river, or return to the sea; bent on some purpose of which they never lose sight. But the evolutions of the gull appear capricious, and undirected, both when she flies alone and in large companies. The more, however, her character suffers as a loiterer, the more it is raised in picturesque value, by her continuing longer before the eye and displaying, in her elegant sweeps along the air, her sharp-pointed wings and her bright silvery hue. She is beautiful, also, not only on the wing, but when she floats, in numerous assemblies, on the water; or when she rests on the shore, dotting either one or the other with white spots; which, minute as they are, are very picturesque. — GILPIN.] Their wives pursue, and damsels urged by dread, Their head the gown has hooded, and their call "No! See one poor girl, all terror and alarm, Hide every beam, and fear and darkness reign. (1) appear? I see them not! the storm alone I hear: (1) ["The signals of distress are heard - the inhabitants of the Borough crowd to the strand; but the boisterousness of the sea precludes all possibility of affording assistance to the crew of the distressed vessel observes the poet, in lines of dreadful meaning, — 'Yet may they view those lights upon the beach, Which yield them hope, whom help can never reach.' Yet,' The sudden appearance of the moon, breaking at such a moment from a cloud over the tempestuous waste, is superlatively described. The m posing tumult of these scenes scarcely permits us to remark how finely in these passages the grandeur of the subject is supported by that of the verse." GIFFORD.] |