The moment that his voice was heard, was felt the awful shock; The ship sprang forward with a bound, and struck upon a rock! XI. "All hands aloft !" our captain cried;—in horror and dismay They threw the cargo overboard, and cut the masts away: 'Twas all in vain, 'twas all in vain! the sea rushed o'er the deck, And, shattered with the beating surf, down went the parting wreck. XII. The moment that the wreck went down, my father caught me fast, And leaping 'mid the thundering waves, seized on the broken mast: I know not how he bore me up, my senses seemed to swim, A shuddering horror chilled my brain, and stiffened every limb. XIII. What next I knew was, hard at morn, on a bleak desert shore, Out of a hundred mariners, were living only four. I looked around, like one who wakes from dreams of fierce alarm, And round my body still I felt, firm locked, my father's arm. XIV. And with a rigid, dying grasp, he closely held me fast, Even as he held me when he seized, at midnight on the mast. With humbled hearts and streaming eyes, knelt down the little band, Praying He who had preserved their lives, to lend his guiding hand. XV. And, day by day, though burning thirst and pining hunger came, His mercy, through our misery, preserved each drooping frame : And, after months of weary woe, sickness, and travel sore, He sent the blessed English ship that took us from that shore. XVI. And now, without a home or friend, I wander far and near, And tell my miserable tale to all who lend an ear. Thus, sitting by your happy hearths, beside your mother's knee, How should you know the miseries and dangers of the sea! |