Weekly Trinity journal., 1862-12-27
The JOUTI1a al.
The Waters and the Shadow.
man overboard !

A man OVorD0ar0
What matters it the ship does not stop The
wind is blowing, that dark ship must keep on her
destined course. She passes away.
The man disappears, then reappearS, he punges
and rises again TO the surface, be calls be
stretches out his hands, they near him not; the
ship, staggering under The gale Is Strain!ng every
rope. the sailors and passengers see the drowning
man no longer his miserable head Is but point
in the vastness Of the billOWs
He hurls cries of despair into the depths
What speeter is that disappearing sail! He
looks upon it, he looks upon it with frenzy. 1t
moves away it grows dim it diminisbes. He
was there but lust now, he was one Of the crew,
he went and came upon the deck with the rest,
be had his share Of the air and of the sunlight,
be was living man. Now, what has become of
him He slipped, be fell aud it is finished.
lie is in the monstrous deep. lie has nothing
under his feet but the yielding fleeing element.
The waves torn and scattered 10y the wind close
round him hideously ; the rolling of the abyss
bears him along shreds Of water are flying about
his head populace Of waves spit upon him
confused openings half swallow him when he
sinks be catches glympses Of yawning precpces
full of darkness fearful unknown negotiations
seize upon him. bind his feet, and draw him to
themselves he feels that he is becoming the
great deep; he makes part Of the foam the bill
lows toss him from one TO the other he tastes
the bitterness the greedy ocean is eager to de-
your him the monster plays with his agony. 1t
But yet be struggles.
lie tries TO defend himself, he tries to sustain
himself be struggles be swims. He--tbat poor
strength that fails so soon-he combals the un-
failing.
Where now is the ship? Far away yondcr-
Hardly visible in the paid gloom Of the horizon.
The wind blows in gusts the pillows over
whem him. He raises his eyes, but sees only the
lvd clouds. He in bis dying agony, makes part
OF this immense insanity of the sea. lie is tor
tured to his death by its immeasurabe madness.
lie hears sounds, which are strange to man,
sounds which seem TO come not from earth, but
from some frightful realm beyond.
There are birds in the clouds, even as there are
angels above human disiresses but what can they
do for him I? They fly, sing, and float while he
lie feels that he is buried at once by those two
infniIes the ocean and the sky the one is a
tomb, the other a pail.
Night descends, he has been swimming for
hours, his strength is almost exhausted that
ship, that far off thing, where there were men, is
gone he is alone in the terrible gloom Of the
abyss he sinks, he strains, be struggles, he feels
leneath him the shadowy monsters Of the unseen
he shouts.
Men are no more. Where is God?
He shouts. Help help! He shouts inces-
sanity.
Nothing in the horizon. Nothing in the sky.
He implores the blue vault, the waves, the
TOCks all are ueal. lie SuppllCateS the tenn
pest ; the imperturbable tempest obeys only the
infinite
Around him are darkness, storm solitude. wild
and unconscious tumult, the ceaseess tumblmg
Of the fierce waters; within him, horror and ex.
haustion Beneath him the engulfng abyss No
resting place. He thinks Of the shadowy adyen-
tures of his lifeless body in the limitless gloom.
The biting cold paralyzes him. His hands clutch
spasmodically, and grasping at nothing. Winds,
clouds. whirwinds blasts, stars, all useless =
What shall be do? lie yields TO despair worn
out, he seeks death he no longer ressts be
gives himself up; he abandons the contest, and
he is rolled away into the dismal depths OF the
abyss forever.
implacaLle march of human society! De-
structlon Of men and Of souls marking its path !
Ocean, where fall all that the law lets fall !
Ominious disappearance Of aid o moral death
The sea is the ineXorable night into which the
penal law casts its victims Tue sea is The meas.
uress misery.
The soul drifting in that sea may become q
corpse. Who shall restore it to life p" Le,
MSrdtkeS."