 | The Works of Thomas Love Peacock |  |
127
ST. PETER OF SCOTLAND
“Si bene calculum ponas, ubique naufragium est.”
Petronius Arbiter.
St. Peter of Scotland set sail with a crew
Of philosophers picked from the Bluecap Review:
His boat was of paper, old rags were her freight,
And her bottom was sheathed with a spruce copperplate.
Of philosophers picked from the Bluecap Review:
His boat was of paper, old rags were her freight,
And her bottom was sheathed with a spruce copperplate.
Her mast was a quill, and to catch the fair gale
The broad grey goose feather was spread for a sail;
So he ploughed his blithe way through the surge and the spray,
And the name of his boat was the Promise-to-Pay.
The broad grey goose feather was spread for a sail;
So he ploughed his blithe way through the surge and the spray,
And the name of his boat was the Promise-to-Pay.
And swiftly and gaily she went on her track,
As if she could never be taken a-back,
As if in her progress there never could be
A chop of the wind or a swell of the sea.
As if she could never be taken a-back,
As if in her progress there never could be
A chop of the wind or a swell of the sea.
She was but a fair-weather vessel, in sooth,
For winds that were gentle, and waves that were smooth;
She was built not for storm, she was armed not for strife,
But in her St. Peter risked fortune and life.
For winds that were gentle, and waves that were smooth;
She was built not for storm, she was armed not for strife,
But in her St. Peter risked fortune and life.
His fortune, 'tis true, was but bundles of rag,
That no pedlar, not Scotch, would have put in his bag;
The worth of his life none could know but the few
Who insured it on sailing from sweet Edinbroo'.
That no pedlar, not Scotch, would have put in his bag;
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Who insured it on sailing from sweet Edinbroo'.
St. Peter seemed daft, and he laughed and he quaffed;
But an ill-boding wave struck his vessel right aft:
It stove in his quarters and swamped his frail boat,
Which sunk with an eddy and left him afloat.
But an ill-boding wave struck his vessel right aft:
It stove in his quarters and swamped his frail boat,
Which sunk with an eddy and left him afloat.
He clung to his goose-quill and floated all night,
And he landed at daybreak in pitiful plight;
And he preached a discourse when he reached the good town,
To prove that his vessel should not have gone down.
And he landed at daybreak in pitiful plight;
And he preached a discourse when he reached the good town,
To prove that his vessel should not have gone down.
The nautical science he took for his guide
Allowed no such force as the wind or the tide:
None but blockheads could think such a science o'erthrown,
By the breath of a gale which ought not to have blown.
Allowed no such force as the wind or the tide:
None but blockheads could think such a science o'erthrown,
By the breath of a gale which ought not to have blown.
| The Works of Thomas Love Peacock | |