“To those who have been accustomed to the difficulties and dangers of a sea-faring life, there are no lines which speak more forcibly to the imagination, or prove the beauty and power of the Greek poet, than those in the noble prayer of Ajax: "Lord of earth and air, O king! O father! hear my humble prayer. Dispel this cloud, that light of heaven restore; Give me to see - and Ajax asks no more, If Greece must perish - we Thy will obey; But let us perish in the face of day!” PoetryPrayerDarknessSeaDangerGreeceAjax Book:The Pirate Source: The Pirate
“In the vast archipelago of the east, where Borneo and Java and Sumatra lie, and the Molucca Islands, and the Philippines, the sea is often fanned only by the land and sea breezes, and is like a smooth bed, on which these islands seem to sleep in bliss,--islands in which the spice and perfume gardens of the world are embowered, and where the bird of paradise has its home, and the golden pheasant, and a hundred others of brilliant plumage, whose flight is among thickets so luxuriant, and scenery so picturesque, that European strangers find there the fairy land of their youthful dreams.” WorldHomeDreamSeemsLyingSleepSeaLandBedBirdHundredGardenStrangerEastBrilliantGoldenFlightBlissIslandsParadiseFairySmoothPerfumeBreezeSpicesSceneryPhilippinesJavaPicturesqueThicketsLand And SeaSea BreezePheasantsBorneo Author:Frederick Marryat