Till her black battery on the column bears: The nitre fired; and, while the dreadful sound, Convulsive shook the slumbering air around, 50 The watery volume, trembling to the sky, Burst down, a dreadful deluge, from on high! The expanding ocean trembled as it fell, And felt with swift recoil her surges swell; But soon, this transient undulation o'er, The sea subsides, the whirlwinds rage no more. While southward now the increasing breezes veer, Dark clouds incumbent on their wings appear: Ahead they see the consecrated grove Of Cyprus, sacred once to Cretan Jove. 60 The ship beneath her lofty pressure reels, And to the freshening gale still deeper heels. But now, beneath the lofty vessel's stern, A shoal of sportive dolphins they discern, Beaming from burnish'd scales refulgent rays, Till all the glowing ocean seems to blaze: In curling wreaths they wanton on the tide, Now bound aloft, now downward swiftly glide; Awhile beneath the waves their tracks remain, And burn in silver streams along the liquid plain. 70 Soon to the sport of death the crew repair, Dart the long lance, or spread the baited snare. One in redoubling mazes wheels along, And glides unhappy near the triple prong: Rodmond, unerring, o'er his head suspends The barbed steel, and every turn attends; Unerring aim'd, the missile weapon flew, And, plunging, struck the fated victim through: The upturning points his ponderous bulk sustain, On deck he struggles with convulsive pain. 80 But while his heart the fatal javelin thrills, And flitting life escapes in sanguine rills, What radiant changes strike the astonish'd sight! What glowing hues of mingled shade and light! Not equal beauties gild the lucid west With parting beams all o'er profusely drest; Not lovelier colours paint the vernal dawn, When orient dews impearl the enamell'd lawn, Than from his sides in bright suffusion flow, That now with gold empyreal seem to glow; 90 Now in pellucid sapphires meet the view, And emulate the soft celestial hue; Now beam a flaming crimson on the eye, And now assume the purple's deeper dye: But here description clouds each shining ray; What terms of art can nature's powers display! The lighter sails, for summer winds and seas, Are now dismiss'd, the straining masts to ease; Swift on the deck the stud-sails all descend, Which ready seamen from the yards unbend; 100 The boats then hoisted in are fix'd on board, And on the deck with fastening gripes secured. The watchful ruler of the helm no more With fix'd attention eyes the adjacent shore,