The Works of Lord Byron Volume VI Part 20

'T was twilight, and the sunless day went down Over the waste of waters; like a veil, Which, if withdrawn, would but disclose the frown[bf]

Of one whose hate is masked but to a.s.sail.

Thus to their hopeless eyes the night was shown, And grimly darkled o'er the faces pale, And the dim desolate deep: twelve days had Fear[bg]

Been their familiar, and now Death was here.

L.

Some trial had been making at a raft, With little hope in such a rolling sea, A sort of thing at which one would have laughed,[112]

If any laughter at such times could be, Unless with people who too much have quaffed, And have a kind of wild and horrid glee, Half epileptical, and half hysterical:-- Their preservation would have been a miracle.

LI.

At half-past eight o'clock, booms, hencoops, spars, And all things, for a chance, had been cast loose, That still could keep afloat the struggling tars,[113]

For yet they strove, although of no great use: There was no light in heaven but a few stars, The boats put off o'ercrowded with their crews; She gave a heel, and then a lurch to port, And, going down head foremost--sunk, in short.[114]

LII.

Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell-- Then shrieked the timid, and stood still the brave,-- Then some leaped overboard with dreadful yell,[115]

As eager to antic.i.p.ate their grave; And the sea yawned around her like a h.e.l.l, And down she sucked with her the whirling wave, Like one who grapples with his enemy, And strives to strangle him before he die.

LIII.

And first one universal shriek there rushed, Louder than the loud Ocean, like a crash Of echoing thunder; and then all was hushed, Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash Of billows; but at intervals there gushed, Accompanied by a convulsive splash, A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry Of some strong swimmer in his agony.

LIV.

The boats, as stated, had got off before, And in them crowded several of the crew; And yet their present hope was hardly more Than what it had been, for so strong it blew There was slight chance of reaching any sh.o.r.e; And then they were too many, though so few-- Nine in the cutter, thirty in the boat, Were counted in them when they got afloat.

LV.

All the rest perished; near two hundred souls Had left their bodies; and what's worse, alas!

When over Catholics the Ocean rolls, They must wait several weeks before a ma.s.s Takes off one peck of purgatorial coals, Because, till people know what's come to pa.s.s, They won't lay out their money on the dead-- It costs three francs for every ma.s.s that's said.

LVI.

Juan got into the long-boat, and there Contrived to help Pedrillo to a place; It seemed as if they had exchanged their care, For Juan wore the magisterial face Which courage gives, while poor Pedrillo's pair Of eyes were crying for their owner's case: Battista, though, (a name called shortly t.i.ta), Was lost by getting at some aqua-vita.

LVII.

Pedro, his valet, too, he tried to save, But the same cause, conducive to his loss, Left him so drunk, he jumped into the wave, As o'er the cutter's edge he tried to cross, And so he found a wine-and-watery grave; They could not rescue him although so close, Because the sea ran higher every minute, And for the boat--the crew kept crowding in it.

LVIII.

A small old spaniel,--which had been Don Jose's, His father's, whom he loved, as ye may think, For on such things the memory reposes With tenderness--stood howling on the brink, Knowing, (dogs have such intellectual noses!) No doubt, the vessel was about to sink; And Juan caught him up, and ere he stepped Off threw him in, then after him he leaped.[116]

LIX.

He also stuffed his money where he could About his person, and Pedrillo's too, Who let him do, in fact, whate'er he would, Not knowing what himself to say, or do, As every rising wave his dread renewed; But Juan, trusting they might still get through, And deeming there were remedies for any ill, Thus re-embarked his tutor and his spaniel.

LX.

'T was a rough night, and blew so stiffly yet, That the sail was becalmed between the seas,[117]

Though on the wave's high top too much to set, They dared not take it in for all the breeze: Each sea curled o'er the stern, and kept them wet, And made them bale without a moment's ease,[118]

So that themselves as well as hopes were damped, And the poor little cutter quickly swamped.

LXI.

Nine souls more went in her: the long-boat still Kept above water, with an oar for mast, Two blankets st.i.tched together, answering ill Instead of sail, were to the oar made fast; Though every wave rolled menacing to fill, And present peril all before surpa.s.sed,[119]

They grieved for those who perished with the cutter, And also for the biscuit-casks and b.u.t.ter.

LXII.

The sun rose red and fiery, a sure sign Of the continuance of the gale: to run Before the sea until it should grow fine, Was all that for the present could be done: A few tea-spoonfuls of their rum and wine Were served out to the people, who begun[120]

To faint, and damaged bread wet through the bags, And most of them had little clothes but rags.

LXIII.

They counted thirty, crowded in a s.p.a.ce Which left scarce room for motion or exertion; They did their best to modify their case, One half sate up, though numbed with the immersion, While t' other half were laid down in their place, At watch and watch; thus, shivering like the tertian Ague in its cold fit, they filled their boat, With nothing but the sky for a great coat.[121]

LXIV.

'T is very certain the desire of life Prolongs it: this is obvious to physicians, When patients, neither plagued with friends nor wife, Survive through very desperate conditions, Because they still can hope, nor shines the knife Nor shears of Atropos before their visions: Despair of all recovery spoils longevity, And makes men's misery of alarming brevity.

LXV.

'T is said that persons living on annuities Are longer lived than others,--G.o.d knows why, Unless to plague the grantors,--yet so true it is, That some, I really think, _do_ never die: Of any creditors the worst a Jew it is, And _that's_ their mode of furnishing supply: In my young days they lent me cash that way, Which I found very troublesome to pay.[122]

LXVI.

'T is thus with people in an open boat, They live upon the love of Life, and bear More than can be believed, or even thought, And stand like rocks the tempest's wear and tear; And hardship still has been the sailor's lot, Since Noah's ark went cruising here and there; She had a curious crew as well as cargo, Like the first old Greek privateer, the Argo.

LXVII.

But man is a carnivorous production, And must have meals, at least one meal a day; He cannot live, like woodc.o.c.ks, upon suction, But, like the shark and tiger, must have prey; Although his anatomical construction Bears vegetables, in a grumbling way, Your labouring people think, beyond all question, Beef, veal, and mutton, better for digestion.

LXVIII.

And thus it was with this our hapless crew; For on the third day there came on a calm, And though at first their strength it might renew, And lying on their weariness like balm, Lulled them like turtles sleeping on the blue Of Ocean, when they woke they felt a qualm, And fell all ravenously on their provision, Instead of h.o.a.rding it with due precision.

LXIX.

The consequence was easily foreseen-- They ate up all they had, and drank their wine, In spite of all remonstrances, and then On what, in fact, next day were they to dine?

They hoped the wind would rise, these foolish men!

And carry them to sh.o.r.e; these hopes were fine, But as they had but one oar, and that brittle, It would have been more wise to save their victual.

LXX.

The fourth day came, but not a breath of air, And Ocean slumbered like an unweaned child: The fifth day, and their boat lay floating there, The sea and sky were blue, and clear, and mild-- With their one oar (I wish they had had a pair) What could they do? and Hunger's rage grew wild: So Juan's spaniel, spite of his entreating, Was killed, and portioned out for present eating.[123]

LXXI.