With painful step he climb'd; while far above
Sweet Anna charm'd them with the voice of love:
Then sudden from the slippery height they fell,
While dreadful yawn'd beneath the jaws of hell. 690
Amid this fearful trance, a thundering sound
He hears, and thrice the hollow decks rebound:
Upstarting from his couch, on deck he sprung,
Thrice with shrill note the boatswain's whistle rung:
All hands unmoor! proclaims a boisterous cry;
All hands unmoor! the cavern'd rocks reply.
Roused from repose, aloft the sailors swarm,
And with their levers soon the windlass arm:
The order given, up springing with a bound,
They fix the bars, and heave the windlass [3] round; 700
At every turn the clanging pauls resound:
Up-torn reluctant from its oozy cave,
The ponderous anchor rises o'er the wave.
High on the slippery masts the yards ascend,
And far abroad the canvas wings extend.
Along the glassy plain the vessel glides,
While azure radiance trembles on her sides;
The lunar rays in long reflection gleam,
With silver deluging the fluid stream.
Levant and Thracian gales alternate play, 710
Then in the Egyptian quarter die away.
A calm ensues; adjacent shores they dread;
The boats, with rowers mann'd, are sent ahead;
With cordage fasten'd to the lofty prow,
Aloof to sea the stately ship they tow; [4]
The nervous crew their sweeping oars extend,