VII. The warrior ceas'd, and with a sigh represt 820 CANTO IV. THE CALM. MORNING AT SEA-CREW BATHING-NEPTUNE'S VISIT-EPISODE OF YARROW-THE SHARK-BAIT. The angry storm is laid, and Phoebus now 825 826 • An alternate rise and depression of the sea continue long after the fury of the storm is exhausted. Fix'd as in ice-the vanes no longer stream, And all is calm beneath the orient beam. II. Joy to the new-born day!-not only we, But gladden'd myriads hail thee from the sea. 835 840 And thundering plunge his carcass down the deep.* III. Now sports the nimble dolphin o'er the tides, 845 Floats in the sun, like living sapphire glides,† * The Whale comes up to the surface of the sea to blow the water and fetch air. When floating he resembles a black hillock, and dis◄ covers only the crown of his head, and part of his back; but, in going down, he makes a display of his fins, and erects his huge tail. + The cerulean brilliance of the Dolphin moved by golden fins, is an object of delightful contemplation. We caught one of these fish during the calm. In the agony of dying a succession of beautiful but The pennon'd fish he seeks-in sparkling flight The deep dividing, from the surface springs, And cuts the buxom air with pearly wings- 850 But see, as though invoking the soft gale, In spreading pomp his course around us keep, 855 And mock our stately frigate on the deep.+ IV. Now while the sky unveils its living light, evanescent tints passed over the surface of his body, exhibiting changes from blue to orange or gold, spotted with blue and lilac; while its fins revealed the gorgeous colours of a peacock's neck. • The Flying Fish are seen in shoals sparkling from the sea, endeavouring to elude the rapid pursuit of their cruel enemy the dolphin. They can fly only while their finny wings are wet, and sometimes drop on the ship's deck. On emerging from the water, after their first fluttering flight, they do little more than describe an extended curve. + It is amusing to behold the Nautilus, with a hull not bigger than a walnut-shell, and a sail not larger than a butterfly's wing, affect the lofty port the incedo regina, of a stately ship. 860 From the carv'd stern, the bowsprit, and the mast, Again the surface parts, the waters glow.+ 865 V. 870 Now two Virginian youths their forms display, 875 * The Americans, from their extensive line of sea-coast, and the intersection of their country by noble streams, are generally adepts in the pleasant, healthy, and useful art of swimming. Franklin was so consummate a swimmer, that he once had it in contemplation to establish a swimming-school on the Thames. |