The ladies' garland. [volume] (Harpers-Ferry, Va. [W. Va.]) 1824-1828, 1825-12-17
r1zE YOURxST.
"A PICTURE DRAWN AT SEA.

\.
sea, June Is.
But there is a pleasure beyond what this
little world, enclosed Ill wooden walls, can at
ford---the pleasure of looking abroad upon the
boundless ocean, of watching its changing as
poets, its restless agitation its eternal heavngs.
There is a grandeur in such an expanse OF wa
ter, stretching beyond the limits OF vision, and
all sides mlngllng with the skies, even when
its surface is calm and placid But how is It's
magnifcence heightened, when it is dashed into
tumult, and the pillows are crested with foam!
| have stood for hours, to survey the waves roll
ing and tumbling in the verge of the horizon,
with which they appear to be blended 1t is at
such moment that man feels his weakness and
insignifcance, while the elements are IN cornmo-
ton, the seas are dashng around HMM all their
terror and subGmty, and fathonless abyss
yaWning beneath, insulated as he IS from the rest
of the world, and devoid of human assistance,
his confidence is limited to plank, and that,
apparently too fragile to withstand for "a mo-
ment the violence and conclusion of the waves.
In spite of all the convictions OF safety, and of
all resolutions to meet whatever may come with
tirmness and forttude, the ma ginatlon, startled
by the creaking OF masts the pnng of WINDS
and the dashing Of the surge, viii sometimes
descend to the bottom OF the ocean, and survey
such horrors as are depicted In the the dream Of
Clarence
What sights of ugly death within mine eyes
MethOught saw thousand fearful coucncs
a thousand men that fishes gnawed upon
Wedges OF gold great anchors, heaps OF pearl
lnest,mabe stones, unNalued Jewels
Al scattered IN the bottom OF the
Some lay IN dead mems skulls and IN those hoes
Where eyes did once lnhabit, there were crept,
As 'twere in scorn of eyes, rejecting gems,
That wood the shiny bottom OF the deep,
And mock ID the dead bones that lay scatter'd by
When the imagination has once reached the
bottom OF the ocean, 1t is very easy for 1t to eX-
tend It's rambles through coral groves and those
green fecesses, which poets and naturalists,
scarcely less tancltul, have supposed to exist
Button thinks that the depths OF the exhibit
all the varieties of hill anu dale earth and rock,
that we observe on dry land and thai its plants
and shrubs have a similar distribution. Accord
ing to others, these vegetables and submarine
produc tons are OF the most gorgeous and spien-
did colors, vleng III richness and beauty with
the most picturesque scenery Of the earth above.
Fancy may go step further, and people these
bril- ht abodes with the inhabitants of the deep,
or those tabled gods and goddesses, which the
poets of antiquity called into existence
At 10 O'CLOCK on the night Of this storm, Capt.
Davis called me to the deck (lor the rain was so
severe as to drive the passengers to the cabin,)
for the purpose OF witnessing what mariners
term a CARPo sAINTo, or sacred body---a pheno-
menon was very anxious to see. A ball of fire
was visible at the top Of the main-mast, emitting
a light not unlike that of lamp Indeed so
striking was the resemblance, that at first sus-
pected some one had been playing off quiz, by
\ IL Al