In vain they'd teach us, at the latest oreath And EPICTETUS at the sight, in vain For every Wave now smites the quivering yard; Across the foundered Deck o'erwhelming roar, Again she plunges! hark! a second shock Down on the vale of Death, with dismal cries, She loosens, parts, and spreads in ruin o'er the Tide. Oh, were it mine with sacred MARO's art To wake to sympathy the feeling heart, Like him, the smooth and mournful verse to dress In all the pomp of exquisite distress; Then, too severely taught by cruel Fate, Then might I, with unrivalled Strains, deplore Till all benumbed, and feeble, they forego Their slippery hold, and sink to Shades below: Some, from the Main Yard-Arm impetuous thrown On marble ridges, die without a groan: Three with PALEMON on their skill depend, And from the wreck on Oars and Rafts descend; Now on the Mountain-Wave on high they ride, The whirling Breakers heave on shore alive: Next, O unhappy Chief! th' eternal doom Expired beneath the Victor's murdering steel |