#richard henry dana jr.

[the-most-sublime-fool]

Then, too, at sea—to use a homely but expressive phrase—you miss a man so much. A dozen men are shut up together in a little bark, upon the wide, wide sea, and for months and months see no forms and hear no voices but their own, and one is taken suddenly from among them, and they miss him at every turn. It is like losing a limb. There are no new faces or new scenes to fill up the gap. There is always an empty berth in the forecastle, and one man wanting when the small night watch is mustered. There is one less to take up the wheel, and one less to lay out with you upon the yard. You miss his form, and the sound of his voice, for habit had made them almost necessary to you, and each of your senses feels the loss.

—a sailor's diary entry, on losing a shipmate, ca. 1834 (from Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.)

#he also started the entry for that day by saying 'this was a black day in our calendar' #sorry but i'm even more emotional about this after watching ofmd someone please appreciate #this is an actual entry in a real sailor's diary about really losing one of his shipmates #two years before the mast #richard henry dana jr. #quotes #nautical #the sea #nautical history #ofmd #our flag means death

[deadpresidents]

The Californians are an idle, thriftless people, and can make nothing for themselves. The country abounds in grapes, yet they buy, at a great price, bad wine made in Boston.

Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, 1840

#Richard Henry Dana Jr. #Two Years Before the Mast #California #Quotes #Hey fuck off Richard Henry Dana Jr.

[ltwilliammowett]

Spinning Yarn

Spinning Yarn is the art of fictional storytelling among seafarers who could not just stay on board a ship. There were also good stories that were carried ashore and spun or even written down and printed.

Origin

The term “spinning yarn” has not existed for very long, it has only been known in writing since the early 19th century. It was James Hardy Vaux who, in his work of 1819, reported not only on his experiences as a criminal in England and later as a convict, but also on the storytelling on board the ship that transported him, which he called spinning yarn.

Saturday Night at Sea by George Cruikshank (1792 -1878)

In the 1820s this kind of art was also carried out by Greenwich pensioners and some of them were even published in newspapers under the term Spinning Yarn. But where does this term come from? Seamen often had to spend time repairing ropes on board ships. This is a time-consuming job of twisting fibres together, which was supposedly called "spinning yarn". While repairing ropes, sailors often told each other stories to pass the time. Over time, these stories came to be called "yarn" and the telling of a story came to be called "spinning yarn". Presumably, however, this practice goes back to the Middle Ages, but it is no longer possible to say for sure.

The reason for these stories

First and foremost, they were told to escape boredom and fill the hours of idleness. But the stories also fulfilled other tasks, for one thing they were there to create a bond among the comrades. For although these stories were largely fictional, they contained elements of everyday life, of the family or of one's own life story. Things that everyone on board could relate to and that created a bond.

(x)

The better the story, the higher the reputation and the higher the listenership of the narrator, which in turn could cause some discomfort on the part of the narrator, as the comrades would sometimes give him something extra to tell them an exciting new story. And it increased the likelihood that the story would be passed on ashore, which could also have positive effects for the storytellers. But the stories also had hidden messages in them, so they could contain a warning about the behaviour towards some officials or criticism of them. But also parts about tired men and extraordinary phenomena. The ghost stories are particularly noteworthy here. They entertained but also had a lasting effect and elevated the narrator a little higher in his position among the men. after all, he was a good man for having experienced it, even if the older ones knew that it was fiction. The younger ones who had not yet had these experiences or were still too young to distinguish fiction from reality.

Yarns that were printed

Some of the stories made it into print for others to enjoy. It is important to distinguish whether the book was written by a Sailor, an author pretending to be a Sailor or an exsailor. Today we would simply put it in the category of adventure stories. But at that time Sailor adventures were something special. Etchings of a Whaling Cruise, by J. Ross Browne 1846  is a hybrid of a logbook, journal, travelogue and yarn. For there he tells the story of a sailor and his journey on a whaler, later on a whale, and that alcohol is not a friend.

Etchings of a Whaling Cruise, with Notes of a Sojourn on the Island of Zanzibar. by John Ross Browne (1821-1875) - here the ride on a whale

 The book was also read with great favour by Herman Melville. Richard Henry Dana Jr. also addresses spinning yarns in his work Two Years before the Mast.

And The Narrative of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life of John Blatchford by unknown,18th century, but probably Blatchford himself, recounts his life as an American Sailor during the Revolution and his sacrifice for the fledgling US Navy.

Owen Chase (1797-1869), first mate of the Whaler Essex, also tells a story about the famous incident of the Whaler and its tragic fate in his book The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex. In particular, however, he emphasises the cruelty of cannibalism in his book and reports so matter-of-factly that it must have sent shivers down the reader's spine. Whether this is a classic yarn is questioned in research, but the book does not seem to have been written by Chase himself. Rather, it seems to be based on his reports and journal, which makes parts of the whole thing a yarn again, as they probably did not happen as portrayed. The same happens with Moby Dick by Herman Melville, 1851, which takes up the Essex and her story but spins his own adventure out of it.

All these stories had their subtleties, their depths and their morals or even warnings, but a good story brought men together. It relieved boredom and caused astonishment, joy or even goose bumps. Just as we experience today when someone tells us a good adventure. At this point, however, a small warning from me, if you read stories about sailors, be prepared, it could just be a yarn and therefore not necessarily real.

#naval history #spinning yarn #age of sail #age of steam #modern

[handfuloftime]

@clove-pinks tagged me in a reading meme--thanks! <3

Last read: The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. This was a book club pick and while it took some time for me to get into it I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.

Current read: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, which is enormous fun so far (legendary Indian Ocean pirate comes out of retirement for one more job, supernatural occurrences ensue).

Also reading The Poetical Works of Thomas Lovell Beddoes, edited by Edmund Gosse (extremely Gothic), and just started Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Next read: I'm looking forward to digging into the gigantic new book of Duroc's administrative correspondence (Correspondance du grand maréchal du palais de Napoléon Ier, edited by Jean-Pierre Samoyault and Charles-Éloi Vial). This is going to do so much for my research.

Also planning to read The Private Journal of William Reynolds, written by a midshipman on the 1838-1842 U.S. Exploring Expedition, and, if I'm not tired of maritime voyages by that point, Moby Dick.

Tagging @thiswaitingheart, @joachimnapoleon, @thiswaycomessomethingwicked, @explorersaremadeofhope, and anyone else who'd like to!

#tag memes

[kwebtv]

Burke’s Law -  List of Guest Stars

The Special Guest Stars of “Burke’s Law” read like a Who’s Who list of Hollywood of the era.  Many of the appearances, however, were no more than one scene cameos.  This is as complete a list ever compiled of all those who even made the briefest of appearances on the series.  

Beverly Adams, Nick Adams, Stanley Adams, Eddie Albert, Mabel Albertson, Lola Albright, Elizabeth Allen, June Allyson, Don Ameche, Michael Ansara, Army Archerd, Phil Arnold, Mary Astor, Frankie Avalon, Hy Averback, Jim Backus, Betty Barry, Susan Bay, Ed Begley, William Bendix, Joan Bennett, Edgar Bergen, Shelley Berman, Herschel Bernardi, Ken Berry, Lyle Bettger, Robert Bice, Theodore Bikel, Janet Blair, Madge Blake, Joan Blondell, Ann Blyth, Carl Boehm, Peter Bourne, Rosemarie Bowe, Eddie Bracken, Steve Brodie, Jan Brooks, Dorian Brown, Bobby Buntrock, Edd Byrnes, Corinne Calvet, Rory Calhoun, Pepe Callahan, Rod Cameron, Macdonald Carey, Hoagy Carmichael, Richard Carlson, Jack Carter, Steve Carruthers, Marianna Case, Seymour Cassel, John Cassavetes, Tom Cassidy, Joan Caulfield, Barrie Chase, Eduardo Ciannelli, Dane Clark, Dick Clark, Steve Cochran, Hans Conried, Jackie Coogan, Gladys Cooper, Henry Corden, Wendell Corey, Hazel Court, Wally Cox, Jeanne Crain, Susanne Cramer, Les Crane, Broderick Crawford, Suzanne Cupito, Arlene Dahl, Vic Dana, Jane Darwell, Sammy Davis Jr., Linda Darnell, Dennis Day, Laraine Day, Yvonne DeCarlo, Gloria De Haven, William Demarest, Andy Devine, Richard Devon, Billy De Wolfe, Don Diamond, Diana Dors, Joanne Dru, Paul Dubov, Howard Duff, Dan Duryea, Robert Easton, Barbara Eden, John Ericson, Leif Erickson, Tom Ewell, Nanette Fabray, Felicia Farr, Sharon Farrell, Herbie Faye, Fritz Feld, Susan Flannery, James Flavin, Rhonda Fleming, Nina Foch, Steve Forrest, Linda Foster, Byron Foulger, Eddie Foy Jr., Anne Francis, David Fresco, Annette Funicello, Eva Gabor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Reginald Gardiner, Nancy Gates, Lisa Gaye, Sandra Giles, Mark Goddard, Thomas Gomez, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, Sandra Gould, Wilton Graff, Gloria Grahame, Shelby Grant, Jane Greer, Virginia Grey, Tammy Grimes, Richard Hale, Jack Haley, George Hamilton, Ann Harding, Joy Harmon, Phil Harris, Stacy Harris, Dee Hartford, June Havoc, Jill Haworth, Richard Haydn, Louis Hayward, Hugh Hefner, Anne Helm, Percy Helton, Irene Hervey, Joe Higgins, Marianna Hill, Bern Hoffman, Jonathan Hole, Celeste Holm, Charlene Holt, Oscar Homolka, Barbara Horne, Edward Everett Horton, Breena Howard, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Arthur Hunnicutt, Tab Hunter, Joan Huntington, Josephine Hutchinson, Betty Hutton, Gunilla Hutton, Martha Hyer, Diana Hyland, Marty Ingels, John Ireland, Mako Iwamatsu, Joyce Jameson, Glynis Johns, I. Stanford Jolley, Carolyn Jones, Dean Jones, Spike Jones, Victor Jory, Jackie Joseph, Stubby Kaye, Monica Keating, Buster Keaton, Cecil Kellaway, Claire Kelly, Patsy Kelly, Kathy Kersh, Eartha Kitt, Nancy Kovack, Fred Krone, Lou Krugman, Frankie Laine, Fernando Lamas, Dorothy Lamour, Elsa Lanchester, Abbe Lane, Charles Lane, Lauren Lane, Harry Lauter, Norman Leavitt, Gypsy Rose Lee, Ruta Lee, Teri Lee, Peter Leeds, Margaret Leighton, Sheldon Leonard, Art Lewis, Buddy Lewis, Dave Loring, Joanne Ludden,  Ida Lupino, Tina Louise, Paul Lynde, Diana Lynn, James MacArthur, Gisele MacKenzie, Diane McBain, Kevin McCarthy, Bill McClean, Stephen McNally, Elizabeth MacRae, Jayne Mansfield, Hal March, Shary Marshall, Dewey Martin, Marlyn Mason, Hedley Mattingly, Marilyn Maxwell, Virginia Mayo, Patricia Medina, Troy Melton, Burgess Meredith, Una Merkel, Dina Merrill, Torben Meyer, Barbara Michaels, Robert Middleton, Vera Miles, Sal Mineo, Mary Ann Mobley, Alan Mowbray, Ricardo Montalbán, Elizabeth Montgomery, Ralph Moody, Alvy Moore, Terry Moore, Agnes Moorehead, Anne Morell, Rita Moreno, Byron Morrow, Jan Murray, Ken Murray, George Nader, J. Carrol Naish, Bek Nelson, Gene Nelson, David Niven, Chris Noel, Kathleen Nolan, Sheree North, Louis Nye, Arthur O'Connell, Quinn O'Hara, Susan Oliver, Debra Paget, Janis Paige, Nestor Paiva, Luciana Paluzzi, Julie Parrish, Fess Parker, Suzy Parker, Bert Parks, Harvey Parry, Hank Patterson, Joan Patrick, Nehemiah Persoff, Walter Pidgeon, Zasu Pitts, Edward Platt, Juliet Prowse, Eddie Quillan, Louis Quinn, Basil Rathbone, Aldo Ray, Martha Raye, Gene Raymond, Peggy Rea, Philip Reed, Carl Reiner, Stafford Repp, Paul Rhone, Paul Richards, Don Rickles, Will Rogers Jr., Ruth Roman, Cesar Romero, Mickey Rooney, Gena Rowlands, Charlie Ruggles, Janice Rule, Soupy Sales, Hugh Sanders, Tura Satana, Telly Savalas, John Saxon, Lizabeth Scott, Lisa Seagram, Pilar Seurat, William Shatner, Karen Sharpe, James Shigeta, Nina Shipman, Susan Silo, Johnny Silver, Nancy Sinatra, The Smothers Brothers, Joanie Sommers, Joan Staley, Jan Sterling, Elaine Stewart, Jill St. John, Dean Stockwell, Gale Storm, Susan Strasberg, Inger Stratton, Amzie Strickland, Gil Stuart, Grady Sutton, Kay Sutton, Gloria Swanson, Russ Tamblyn. Don Taylor, Dub Taylor, Vaughn Taylor, Irene Tedrow, Terry-Thomas, Ginny Tiu, Dan Tobin, Forrest Tucker, Tom Tully, Jim Turley, Lurene Tuttle, Ann Tyrrell, Miyoshi Umeki, Mamie van Doren, Deborah Walley, Sandra Warner, David Wayne, Ray Weaver, Lennie Weinrib, Dawn Wells, Delores Wells, Rebecca Welles, Jack Weston, David White, James Whitmore, Michael Wilding, Annazette Williams, Dave Willock, Chill Wills, Marie Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Sandra Wirth, Ed Wynn, Keenan Wynn, Dana Wynter, Celeste Yarnall, Francine York.

#Burke's Law #TV #Special Guest Stars in Alphabetical Order

[taffyisreading]

Volume 5, half way into the collection and I still wouldn’t stop. My favourite story here was The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. My goodness, what fun to just travel back in time through this story.

Here are some quotes from the stories in Volume 5...

TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST BY RICHARD HENRY DANA, Jr

“There is probably so much of excitement in prolonged expectation that the quiet realising of it produces a momentary stagnation of feeling.”✨

THE STORY OF KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS BY HOWARD PYLE

“And wit ye that no man can do better than that in this world: to bring aid to the afflicted, and a release from trouble to those who are in anxiety.”✨

MICROBE HUNTERS BY PAUL de KRUIF

“... Do not let yourselves be tainted by a deprecating and barren skepticism, do not let yourselves be discouraged by the sadness of hours which pass over nations. Live in the serene peace of laboratories and libraries. Say to yourselves first: What have I done for my instruction? And, as you gradually advance, What have I done for my country? Until the time comes when you may have the immense happiness of thinking that you have contributed in some way to the progress and good of humanity.”✨

THE FRIENDLY PERSUASION BY JESSAMYN WEST

“From now on, Eliza, I don’t figure there’s a thing asked of me but to love my fellow men.”✨

#booklover #book review #best seller books #booksbooksbooks #writing #book recommendations #bookish #booklr #literature

[stxrsdontshine]

[ freddy miyares, cis man, he/him. ] ✧･ﾟ is that [ kai westergaard ] who just stumbled into town? rumour has it that they’re the [ twenty-eight ] year old child of [ hans westergaard ] from [ frozen ]. i’ve also heard that they’re [ adventurous ] but [ aloof ] and have [ 1 ] sibling(s). i could almost swear i heard [ experience - ludovico einaudi ] playing when they appeared.

ᴛᴡ ɪɴᴄᴀʀᴄᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴛᴏʙᴀᴄᴄᴏ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴋɪᴅɴᴀᴘᴘɪɴɢ.

full name: captain kai westergaard. nicknames: kai, captain kai. gender: cis man. pronouns: he/him. sexuality: (tragically) heterosexual age: twenty-eight. date of birth: november 21st. zodiac sign: saggitarius sun, saggitarius moon, saggitarius rising. aesthetics: worn down leather journal, water-logged maps, nautical tools, sun-kissed glow, courteous smiles, deep thoughts, muscles that ripple like the waves, the smell of salt in the air, the taste of mead and ground up tobacco. parents: hans westergaard from frozen. siblings: one half-brother (lief westergaard), one adoptive sister (kristen bjorgman westergaard).

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so they say. Except Kai Westergaard of the Southern Isles fell so far off of the tree– he was almost a different fruit altogether. Which is to say, Kai was nothing like his father Hans. Although he was a prince by blood and by title, he didn’t feel that way. He knew there was no way he was going to inherit the throne, being so far down the line. The prince had decided to forge a destiny of his own.

It was easy for Kai to convince his uncle, the king of the Southern Isles and the man who had raised them, to allow him to lead an armada of ships to explore the world beyond. That was always what drove the prince forward– learning about new things, discovering new places. So he figured he might as well have been serving his people in a way, coming home with spices and maybe obtain new land. Really, the goal was just to meet new people, hear new stories, and see new sights. The man just fed his wanderlust.

Unfortunately, the name he carried became some sort of curse. Namely, the instant mistrust that came his way from his own crew. And he’d had to prove his worth as their named captain. Time and again, the prince proved himself capable and intelligent, quick to solve problems or understand when he needed help when solving one.

During a stop at one of the docks in Arendelle, the captain was surprised at the immediate hostility he had been met with. Kai Westergaard was accused of aiding in the kidnapping of one of the princesses of the kingdom. A kidnapping he had known nothing about. And just like that, Kai had his freedom and his dreams robbed.

It was only natural for the seafarer to be disoriented when he’d found himself in this new town. Lucky for him, the place never seemed to run out of the things he yearned for– new people, new stories, new sights, new found freedom.

▸ The book he claims sparked his wanderlust is Two Years Before The Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. ▸ Kai is a quiet guy. He often enjoys a good book to read. Those had been his only solace when he was young and wanting to discover the world, and then again when he was behind bars and longing to be free again.

#intro #intro: kai westergaard #frozen

[johnjankovic1]

Moby Dick

There is a witchery in the sea, its songs and stories, and in the mere sight of a ship, and the sailor's dress, especially to a young mind, which has done more to man navies, and fill merchantmen, than all the press gangs of Europe. Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years before the Mast, 1840

#Industrial Policy #Maritime Sector

[alrederedmixedmedia]

Alredered Remembers U.S. writer of Two Years Before the Mast Richard Henry Dana, on his birthday.

“ As has often been said, a ship is like a lady’s watch, always out of repair. ” — Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

[the-most-sublime-fool]

No pencil has ever yet given anything like the true effect of an iceberg. In a picture, they are huge, uncouth masses, stuck in the sea, while their chief beauty and grandeur,—their slow, stately motion; the whirling of the snow about their summits, and the fearful groaning and cracking of their parts,—the picture cannot give. This is the large iceberg; while the small and distant islands, floating on the smooth sea, in the light of a clear day, look like little floating fairy isles of sapphire.

Richard Henry Dana Jr, Two Years Before the Mast

#imagery #description #quotes #the sea #icebergs #two years before the mast #nautical history #maritime history #nautical #nature #my post

[hatmanbookman]

Two Years Before the Mast

By

Richard Henry Dana Jr

I can't believe I found an 1895 edition of this book for only $3! Its absolutely beautiful and in great condition.

#two years before the mast #2 years before the mast #historical #history #booknerd #bookworm #books #history books #nonfiction #bookstagram #historical books #nautical #thrifting #thrift

[byneddiedingo]

Henry Travers, Aubrey Mather, Oskar Homolka, Leonid Kinskey, Gary Cooper, S.Z. Sakall, Tully Marshall, Barbara Stanwyck, and Richard Haydn in Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, 1941) Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Haydn, Oskar Homolka, Henry Travers, S.Z. Sakall, Tully Marshall, Leonid Kinskey, Aubrey Mather, Dana Andrews, Allen Jenkins, Dan Duryea, Ralph Peters, Kathleen Howard, Mary Field, Charles Lane, Elisha Cook Jr. Screenplay: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Thomas Monroe. Cinematography: Gregg Toland. Art direction: Perry Ferguson. Film editing: Daniel Mandell. Music: Alfred Newman. If this intersection of the talents of Billy Wilder and Howard Hawks doesn't feel much like a typical film from either, lacking some of Wilder's acerbity and Hawks's ebullience, it's perhaps because it was made under the watchful eye of producer Samuel Goldwyn. In fact, it's surprising to find Hawks working for Goldwyn at all after the brouhaha over Come and Get It (1936) that led to Hawks's being fired and replaced with William Wyler. But Goldwyn wanted the writing team of Wilder and Charles Brackett to work for him, and Wilder wanted to work with Hawks. Like everyone else in Hollywood, Wilder wanted to direct, and he wound up shadowing Hawks on the set of Ball of Fire, learning from the best. Wilder later called the picture "silly," and so it is -- not that there's anything wrong with that: Some of the greatest pictures both Wilder and Hawks made were silly, viz. Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959) and Bringing Up Baby (Hawks, 1938). Ball of Fire never quite reaches the heights of either of those movies, partly because it's encumbered by plot and cast. The "seven dwarfs"  of Ball of Fire are all marvelous character actors, but there are too many of them so the film sometimes feels overbusy. The gangster plot feels cooked-up, which it is. The musical numbers featuring Gene Krupa and his orchestra bring the movie to a standstill -- a pleasant one, but it saps some of the momentum of the comedy. Still, Barbara Stanwyck is dazzling as Sugarpuss O'Shea, performing a comic twofer in 1941 with her appearance in Preston Sturges's The Lady Eve, in which she enthralls Henry Fonda's character as efficiently as she does Gary Cooper's in Ball of Fire. There are those who think Cooper is miscast, but I think he's brilliant -- he knows the role is nonsense but he gives it his all.

#Ball of Fire #Howard Hawks #Gary Cooper #Barbara Stanwyck

[ltwilliammowett]

Hello, I've been branching out to other parts of history, namely The Golden Age of Piracy as of late, and I've been interested in learning the terminology for parts of the vessels used. Would you happen to have a good diagram showcasing a ship? When I research it myself I find a lot of conflicting information and need a reliable guide to fall back on. Thank you for your time.

Hi,

I have a couple, so here are a few that might help you.

Otherwise, you can also look under one of the tags - infographic and parts of a ship, I have more there. You can also find larger explanatory posts under the master list Ship Types, design, building, development and parts or Pirates, but they are not yet complete.

I hope i was able to help you, wish you a nice evening.

[narcissiste]

can’t stop thinking about this passage from Two Years Before the Mast:

“Death is at all times solemn, but never so much so as at sea. A man dies on shore; his body remains with his friends...but when a man falls overboard at sea and is lost, there is a suddenness in the event, and a difficulty in realizing it, which give to it an air of awful mystery. A man dies on shore—you follow his body to the grave, and a stone marks the spot. You are often prepared for the event. There is always something which helps you realize it when it happens, and to recall it when it has passed. A man is shot down by your side in battle, and the mangled body remains an object, and a real evidence; but at sea, the man is near you—at your side—you hear his voice, and in an instant he is gone, and nothing but a vacancy shows his loss. Then, too, at sea...you miss a man so much. A dozen men are shut up together in a little bark, upon the wide, wide sea, and for months and months see no forms and hear no voices but their own and one is taken suddenly from among them, and they miss him at every turn. It is like losing a limb. There are no new faces or new scenes to fill up the gap. There is always an empty berth in the forecastle, and one man wanting when the small night watch is mustered. There is one less to take the wheel and one less to lay out with you upon your yard. You miss his form, and the sound of his voice, for habit had made them almost necessary to you, and each of your senses feels the loss.”

#also.... #the terror amc #two years before the mast #richard henry dana jr. #quotes #literature #words

[handfuloftime]

One night, while we were in these tropics, I went out to the end of the flying-jib boom upon some duty, and, having finished it, turned round, and lay over the boom for a long time, admiring the sight before me. Being so far out from the deck, I could look at the ship as at a separate vessel; and there rose up from the water, supported only by the small black hull, a pyramid of canvas, spreading out far beyond the hull, and towering up almost, as it seemed in the indistinct night air, to the clouds. The sea was as still as an inland lake; the light trade wind was gently and steadily breathing from astern; the dark-blue sky was studded with the tropical stars; there was no sound but the rippling of the water under the stem; and the sails were spread out, wide and high, the two lower studding sails stretching on each side far beyond the deck; the topmast studding sails like wings to the topsails; the topgallant studding sails spreading fearlessly out above them; still higher, the two royal studding sails, looking like two kites flying from the same string; and, highest of all, the little skysail, the apex of the pyramid, seeming actually to touch the stars, and to be out of reach of human hand. So quiet, too, was the sea, and so steady the breeze, that if these sails had been sculptured marble they could not have been more motionless. Not a ripple upon the surface of the canvas; not even a quivering of the extreme edges of the sail, so perfectly were they distended by the breeze. I was so lost in the sight that I forgot the presence of the man who came out with me, until he said (for he, too, rough old man-of-war's-man as he was, had been gazing at the show), half to himself, still looking at the marble sails, 'How quietly they do their work!'

Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast

#this is just such a beautiful image #ships #age of sail

[adamcadre]

~1000 words

#Adam Cadre #calendar #Two Years Before the Mast #Richard Henry Dana Jr. #Pilgrim