And the sea yawn'd around her like a hell,
And down she suck'd with her the whirling wave,
415 Like one who grapples with his enemy,
And strives to strangle him before he die.
53
And first one universal shriek there rush'd,
Louder than the loud ocean, like a crash
Of echoing thunder; and then all was hush'd,
420 Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash
Of billows; but at intervals there gush'd,
Accompanied with a convulsive splash,
A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry
Of some strong swimmer in his agony.
? ? * 56
Juan got into the long-boat, and there
Contrived to help Pedrillo4 to a place;
It seem'd as if they had exchanged their care,
For Juan wore the magisterial face
445 Which courage gives, while poor Pedrillo's pair
Of eyes were crying for their owner's case:
Battista, though (a name call'd shortly Tita),
Was lost by getting at some aqua-vita.0
brandy
57
Pedro, his valet, too, he tried to save,
450 But the same cause, conducive to his loss,
Left him so drunk, he jump'd into the wave
As o'er the cutter's edge he tried to cross,
And so he found a wine-and-watery grave;
They could not rescue him although so close,
455 Because the sea ran higher every minute, And for the boat?the crew kept crowding in it.
4. Juan's tutor.
.
DO N JUAN , CANT O 1 / 70 1 86 'Tis thus with people in an open boat, They live upon the love of life, and bear More than can be believed, or even thought, And stand like rocks the tempest's wear and tear; 525 And hardship still has been the sailor's lot, Since Noah's ark went cruising here and there; She had a curious crew as well as cargo, Like the first old Greek privateer, the Argo.5 67 But man is a carnivorous production, 530 And must have meals, at least one meal a day; He cannot live, like woodcocks, upon suction,6 But, like the shark and tiger, must have prey: Although his anatomical construction Bears vegetables in a grumbling way, 535 Your labouring people think beyond all question, Beef, veal, and mutton, better for digestion. 68 And thus it was with this our hapless crew, For on the third day there came on a calm, And though at first their strength it might renew, 540 And lying on their weariness like balm, Lull'd them like turtles sleeping on the blue Of ocean, when they woke they felt a qualm, And fell all ravenously on their provision, Instead of hoarding it with due precision. 3 3 * 7 2 The seventh day,7 and no wind?the burning sun 570 Blister'd and scorch'd, and, stagnant on the sea, They lay like carcases; and hope was none, Save in the breeze that came not; savagely They glared upon each other?all was done, Water, and wine, and food,?and you might see 575 The longings of the cannibal arise (Although they spoke not) in their wolfish eyes. 73 At length one whisper'd his companion, who Whisper'd another, and thus it went round, And then into a hoarser murmur grew, 580 An ominous, and wild, and desperate sound, And when his comrade's thought each sufferer knew,
5. In the Greek myth the Argo is the ship on which Jason set out in quest of the Golden Fleece. Byron ironically calls it a 'privateer' (a private ship licensed by a government in wartime to attack and pillage enemy vessels). 6. Woodcocks probe the turf with their long flexible bills, seeming to suck air as they feed. 7. On the fourth day the crew had killed and eaten Juan's pet spaniel. Byron based the episode of cannibalism that follows on various historical accounts of disasters at sea, including his grandfather Admiral Byron's 1768 narrative of his misadventure off the coast of Patagonia.
.
70 2 / GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON
Twas but his own, suppress'd till now, he found: And out they spoke of lots for flesh and blood, And who should die to be his fellow's food.
74 585 But ere they came to this, they that day shared Some leathern caps, and what remain'd of shoes; And then they look'd around them, and despair'd, And none to be the sacrifice would choose; At length the lots were
