Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1833-05-22
From the Western Monthly Magazine.
EVENING MUSIC AT SEA.
Editors and proprieiors.

It ElSINO MOclO SEA,
BY A QUoNDAM SAILOR.
If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it.
That strain again; it had dying fall.
Shakespeare.
On one of the delicious afternoons of Fe-
bruary, peculiar to the West Indies, as the sun
was declining below the western horizon, the
beautiful Hornet lay in "a calm near the island
of Cuba. The sea was uncommonly smooth,
,mparting hardly sufficient motion to the buoy
ant ship, to disturb the sails as they hung list
lessly against the masts. | had never, until
them fully realized the oft-repeated comparison
of the bosom of the ocean to mirror; but now.
the truth of it came home to me, and | felt
that there was sublimity, even in the calm of
the vast Deep could not gaze on it without
being reminded, by contrast, of the tempests
that at times sweep over it; and thus was its
stiffness associated with its commotion, its qui-
ct with its power.
But though no breath raised ripple on its
surface, there was ceaseess, but gentle swell,
as ifamid the coral beds beneath, some lovely
water-spirit slumbered, while the waters above
rose and fell with its steady breathing. Occa-
sionally, 'sorrowing sea-bird' would fit by
unheeded, or descending kiss the wave, and
soar aloft again till lost in space. Then would
a shining dolphin rush in pursuit of the terrifi-
ed fying-ish; and anon, glisten in the far
depths, almost shedding light through the wa
tiers with the gloss of his sivery sides.
The sun was setting How glowingy came
upon me the force of those lines
Not, as in northern cmes, obscurely bright,
But unclouded blaze of living hght.'
The whole ocean seemed of liquid gold; and
the sky, far up, gIowed as if some blazing spir
it lowered in the void. The rays of the sun
penetrating the water horizontally, looked like
gilded cords, so distinct and brilliant was the
reflection. 1t was q scene TO inspire emotions
of lofty character. Before us, was The glori-
Gus orb of light and life, sinking, as it were, to
rest, in the wave. washed caverns of the deep;
beneath, rolled the limitless oceau-fit emblem
of the etsrnity over which we lowered; and
above, spread the viewless ether, rejecting the
deep blue of the wave beneath, unmarried by Il
single cloud.
At this hour, a few of the officers assembled
on the forecastlo to contemplate the scene; and
recalling the joys of other days, TO hold that
converse, which, in small degree, aleviates
the privations OF Il seamnn's life. With charac-
teristic versatility, they passed from topic to
topic, seldom dwelling long on one, till as the
shades of twilight fell around, their feelings as
sumed congenial hue, and graver themes
were touched. The pail ofnight, thick set with
stars, was thrown about the expiring day, and
the moon shaking of her watery panoply, rose
full and clear, shedding broad stream Of sill
yer light as far as the eye could reach.
Then it was, the remembrances of the past
crowded up like odors from bed of flowers,
luling the feelings to that delicious calmness,
which pleasant memories always inspire, and
which none feel more sensibly than the tempest
tosl mariner. The father dwelt in tenderness
on his distant family the brother recalled the
unbldden assiduiies OF a sisters love; and the
son, as he leaned against the mast, his features
set in the sentences ofsober reflection, felt his
heart sofened by the recollection of mothers
care. But few remarks were made. All felt
that the silence which reigned above, beneath,
and around, should not be disturbed Each
one had retired to the recesses of his own heart
"a sanctuary too sacred to he violated
Such was the state of feeling, when clear
melodious voice, slowly poured forth the first
line of that exquisite song,--'Home, street.
home!r As the words, mid pleasures and
palaces sweled upon the ear, q single exca
matin of pleasure escaped the hearers, and they
again relapsed INTO silence. We had often
heared the song, hut never had it come so thril>
lingly as then. Had it been sung by even an
ordinary performer, its effect would have been
great; but breathed, as it was, with lervor and
feeling have never known eXcelled; in voice,
full, manly, and touching, it could but produce
a powerful impression. As the singer proceed
ed, the circle was augmented. The sturdy
seaman seated himself with calm gravity, and
by the side Of the youthful midshpman, listen
ed with CENTRALIZED attention. The man whose
locks we're whitened, equally with the boy
whose features were unmarked by the trowns
of time and care, seemed to drink IN the beau
tilul words as healing draught.
Oh how magical is music at such an hour!
1t comes to the heart like flood Of sunshine,
dspeIling its gathering mists, and causing high
aspirations to spring into strength and beauty.
The whole man is elevated above the narrow>
ness of earth, and he seeks in thought to com,
municate with the inteligences of a higher
world, and with that Being,
sWho plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the Storm
Thus were the feelings OF the listening group,
when the performer, at the close of the first