 | Poetical sketches |  |
As when with Indian gems, and bales,
Home-bound, the stately vessel sails,
And cuts the main with steady prow
Reflected from the glass below;
Sooth'd by his precious weight, awhile
Old Ocean wears a treacherous smile:
And now each giddy fair on board
To England, as she dreams, restored,
Of balls and dress and fashions prates,
Conquests to come anticipates;
Sees peers contest th' adjoining seat,
Hears princes sighing at her feet:
When—Oh! what means that crashing shock?
The ship has struck a hidden rock!
Sudden, as through the yawning side
Rushes the black impetuous tide,
From their shrunk minds the waves efface
Of fashions, balls, and dress the blaze;
And sweep with one dread dash away
At once the plunderer and the prey.
Home-bound, the stately vessel sails,
101
Reflected from the glass below;
Sooth'd by his precious weight, awhile
Old Ocean wears a treacherous smile:
And now each giddy fair on board
To England, as she dreams, restored,
Of balls and dress and fashions prates,
Conquests to come anticipates;
Sees peers contest th' adjoining seat,
Hears princes sighing at her feet:
When—Oh! what means that crashing shock?
The ship has struck a hidden rock!
Sudden, as through the yawning side
Rushes the black impetuous tide,
From their shrunk minds the waves efface
Of fashions, balls, and dress the blaze;
And sweep with one dread dash away
At once the plunderer and the prey.
| Poetical sketches | |