The Pequod

The Pequod

THE PEQUOD, OF NANTUCKET, MEETS THE SAMUEL ENDERBY, OF LONDON

Going on board the Pequod,
Looked around her for a moment
Then decided that this was the ship for us.

The Pequod was the identical ship
That Yojo had provided to
Carry Queequeg and me
Round the Cape.

Stepping on board the Pequod
We found everything in profound quiet
Not a soul moving.

A ship bound on such a long and perilous a voyage
Beyond both stormy Capes
Blindly plunged like fate into the lone Atlantic.

The Pequod was only making a passage now,
So there was little or nothing to employ or excite Ahab.

Crack, crack, old ship!
So long as thou crackest, thou holdest!
Well done!

The ship had given us up, but was still cruising,
If haply, it might light upon some token of our passing
An oar or long pole.

The ivory Pequod, the swift Pequod
Being unprecedently dragged over
Sideways to the sea.

Never dream with thy hand on the helm!
Turn not thy back to the compass;
Accept the first hint of the hitching tiller;
Believe not the artificial fire.
The fated Pequod had been so long afloat.

“The ship! The hearse!–the second hearse!
Its wood could only be American!”
“The ship? Great God, where is the ship?”

Now small fowls flew screaming over the yet yawning gulf;
a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all
collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it
rolled five thousand years ago.