"Furl" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... of the nation! The Union Jack, thank heaven! still Floats proudly over vale and hill, Of this Dominion grand of ours; And shattered be the vital powers, By fatal stroke, like that which slew, Sennacherib's Assyrian crew, Of him who's traitor hand shall dare To furl one fold that flutters there! And palsied be the traitor tongue, And from its root uptorn and wrung, That dares to utter but one word To weaken the soul-anchored cord, Which binds Canadians heart and hand In love to the old Mother ...
— Recollections of Bytown and Its Old Inhabitants • William Pittman Lett
... the war drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furl'd In the Parliament of Man; the federation of ...
— To Mars via The Moon - An Astronomical Story • Mark Wicks
... cope with heaven and earth and sea and hurricane, Thou ship of air that never furl'st thy sails, Days, even weeks untired and onward, through spaces, realms gyrating, At dusk that look'st on Senegal, at morn America, That sport'st amid the lightning-flash and thunder-cloud, In them, in thy experiences, had'st thou my ...
— The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century • William Lyon Phelps
... woman's voice within, Singing sweet words her childhood knew, And years of misery and sin Furl off, and leave her ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell • James Lowell
... round the Horn was remarkable neither way. It could not be called a very boisterous one, neither was the weather unusually mild. Ships do double this cape, occasionally, under their top-gallant-sails, and we have heard of one vessel that did not furl her royals for several days, while off that formidable head-land; but these cases form the exception and not the rule. The Rancocus was under close-reefed topsails for the better part of a fortnight, in beating to the southward and westward, it blowing very fresh the ...
— The Crater • James Fenimore Cooper
... pique her hours share, Nature and truth their standards furl, Fair as fickle, and false as fair, These are the ways ...
— Cap and Gown - A Treasury of College Verse • Selected by Frederic Knowles
... Banner, for 'tis weary; Round its staff 'tis drooping dreary; Furl it, fold it—it is best; For there's not a man to wave it, And there's not a sword to save it, And there's not one left to lave it In the blood which heroes gave it; And its foes now scorn and brave it; Furl it, ...
— How the Flag Became Old Glory • Emma Look Scott
... the war drum throbs no longer, and the battle-flags are furl'd In the Parliament of man, the ...
— Prize Orations of the Intercollegiate Peace Association • Intercollegiate Peace Association
... she was piloting him to safety. The truth was that the French on board thought they were being pursued by an English fighting ship, which meant to attack them; and immediately they came to anchor, without even waiting to furl sails, they hurried ashore in a canoe and reported accordingly. Thus from the very beginning of his appearance at Ile-de-France, was suspicion cast on Flinders. So began his years of ...
— The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders • Ernest Scott
... on the weather side, Desmond was quickest aloft. He crawled out on the yard, the wind threatening every moment to tear him from his dizzy, rocking perch, and began with desperate energy to furl the straining canvas. It was hard work, and but for the development of his muscles during the past few months, and a naturally cool head, the task would have been beyond his powers. But setting his teeth and exerting his utmost strength, he accomplished his share of it ...
— In Clive's Command - A Story of the Fight for India • Herbert Strang
... taught the boys, a few at a time, how to set a sail, reef and furl it. They had been gradually accustomed to going aloft, until the giddy height of the main royal did not appall them, and they could lay out on the yards without thinking of the empty space beneath them. By the first of June, all the ...
— Outward Bound - Or, Young America Afloat • Oliver Optic
... this looks like what we wanted. Not straight across, Beetle, you blind lunatic! Anyone could spot us half a mile off. This way; and furl up your beastly butterfly-net." ...
— Stalky & Co. • Rudyard Kipling
... all, mother. It is only that you are now captain of the ship, and have got to give your orders instead of carrying them out yourself. Father did not pull up the ropes or go aloft to furl the sails, while I have no doubt he had plenty to do in seeing that his orders were carried out. You will be worse off than he was, for he had John Wilkes, and others, who knew their duty, while I have ...
— When London Burned • G. A. Henty
... American shores. An unexpected tempest, which even Admiral Fitzroy could not have foreseen, broke upon the ships with unheard-of violence. Several vessels, seized by a sort of whirlwind before they had time to furl their sails, were sunk, amongst others the Childe Harold, of Liverpool, a regrettable catastrophe which was the object of ...
— The Moon-Voyage • Jules Verne
... dragging through the raging waters as it might be by violence; and just as night shut in again, she wore round, once more, with her head to the westward. So far from abating, the wind increased, and towards evening we found it necessary to furl our topsail and fore-course. Mere rag of a sail as the former had been reduced to, with its four reefs in, it was a delicate job to roll it up. Neb and I stood together in the bunt, and never did I exert myself more than on that occasion. The foresail, too, was a serious ...
— Afloat And Ashore • James Fenimore Cooper
... rig; wagon wheel, wheel, tire, tyre[Brit][Brit]. [Science of rotary motion] trochilics[obs3]. [person who rotates] whirling dervish. V. rotate; roll along; revolve, spin; turn round; circumvolve[obs3]; circulate; gyre, gyrate, wheel, whirl, pirouette; twirl, trundle, troll, bowl. roll up, furl; wallow, welter; box the compass; spin like a top, spin like a teetotum|!. [of an automobile] spin out. Adj. rotating &c.v.; rotary, rotary; circumrotatory[obs3], trochilic[obs3], vertiginous, gyratory; vortical, vorticose[obs3]. Adv. head over ...
— Roget's Thesaurus
... reef topsails! Away aloft, men, and furl the royals!" cries Best from the quarter-deck; and in the midst of the cheery confusion Maurice Frere briefly recapitulated what had taken place, taking care, however, to pass over his own dereliction of duty as ...
— For the Term of His Natural Life • Marcus Clarke
... mate and two side-boys. Mr. Rat, have the barge manned, and send her on shore for the commodore. Mr. Martin, tell the boatswain to call all hands to furl awnings." ...
— Captain Brand of the "Centipede" • H. A. (Henry Augustus) Wise
... reproduction of the sailor of 1800. In alertness, in knowledge, in silent obedience, he is a great improvement upon his predecessor. Actual experiment shows that a French crew will weigh anchor, spread and furl sail, replace spars or running-ringing, lower or raise topmasts, or perform any other duty pertaining to a ship, with as much celerity as the crew of any other nation. And no confusion, no babbling of many voices, such as the British writers of the last generations delighted ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 73, November, 1863 • Various
... main to'gans'ls," he shouted; "take in the tops'ls. Colin, you go and furl the fore to'gans'l, and if the men are still busy on the tops'l yards, pass the gaskets round the main to'gans'l ...
— The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries • Francis Rolt-Wheeler
... steamer began to tow. She went ahead slim and high, and what was left of the Judea followed at the end of seventy fathom of tow-rope,—followed her swiftly like a cloud of smoke with mastheads protruding above. We went aloft to furl the sails. We coughed on the yards, and were careful about the bunts. Do you see the lot of us there, putting a neat furl on the sails of that ship doomed to arrive nowhere? There was not a man who didn't think that at any moment the masts would topple over. From aloft we could not see the ship ...
— Youth • Joseph Conrad
... a volcano," said he. "I knew there was one hereabouts, but thought it was extinct. Up there and furl top-gallant sails; we'll likely have a breeze, and ...
— The Coral Island - A Tale Of The Pacific Ocean • R. M. Ballantyne
... was seated beside him and had handed him her parasol in a little way which seemed to imply that, of course, he had reached for it, so that it was to be seen how used she was to have all such things done for her. He saw that he was expected to furl the dainty thing; he pressed the catch and let down the top timidly, as if fearing to break or tear it; and, as it closed, held near his face, he caught a very faint, sweet, spicy [v]emanation from it like wild roses ...
— The Literary World Seventh Reader • Various
... Faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd. But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar Retreating to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of ...
— A Tramp's Sketches • Stephen Graham
... of Right confusion broods— Know that for him, though now he sail secure, The day of storm shall be; then shall he strive and fail, Down from the shivered yard to furl the sail, And call on Powers, that heed him nought, to save And vainly wrestle with the whirling wave, Hot was his heart with pride— I shall not fall, he cried. But him with watching scorn The god beholds, forlorn, Tangled in toils of ...
— The House of Atreus • AEschylus
... sail of ours was furl'd, Nor anchor dropt at eve or morn; We loved the glories of the world, But laws of nature were our scorn; For blasts would rise and rave and cease, But whence were those that drove the sail Across the whirlwind's heart of peace, And to and thro' ...
— Enoch Arden, &c. • Alfred Tennyson
... On the bare summits, play can be indulged in only at great risk. Generations of persecution have implanted in the brain of the ruminant baby the commanding instinct to fold up its long legs, neatly and compactly, furl its ears along its neck, and closely lie for hours against a rock or a log. During daylight hours they must literally hug the ground. Silence and inactivity is the first price that all young animals in the wilds pay for their lives. It is only in ...
— The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals • William T. Hornaday
... no great grievance. We could appreciate a man who said things—sailor-like and above board—but when it came to knocking a man about (just because he was 'goin' t' get his oilskins,' when the order was 'aloft, an' furl') there were ugly looks here and there. We had our drilling while the gale lasted, and, when it cleared, our back muscles were ...
— The Brassbounder - A Tale of the Sea • David W. Bone
... space of a few days. After this the men never went aloft in the night-time, except in couples. When topsails were to be reefed, phantoms were seen at the yard-arm ends; and in tacking ship, voices called aloud from the tops. The carpenter himself, going with another man to furl the main-top-gallant-sail in a squall, was nearly pushed from the rigging by an unseen hand; and his shipmate swore that a wet hammock was flirted in ...
— Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas • Herman Melville
... the exception of the lessons in Scripture. Our work was mere playing at sailoring, helping furl sails, haul ropes, study charts, carry messages, and such like. Temple made his voice shrewdly emphatic to explain to the captain that we liked the work, but that such lessons as these out of Scripture were what the eeriest youngsters ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... executed gradually and ably, and scarce a bucketful of water shipped. "Furl taupsles and set the main trysail! There, Mr. Dodd, so much for you and your Isle of Wight. The land you saw was Dungeness, and you would have run on into the North Sea, ...
— Hard Cash • Charles Reade
... are modern; opposed to them is another type of young woman, more feminine, easier to explain, but also thwarted, restlessly demanding an outlet. These women do not want to furl their sex, they seek lovers to whom they may surrender themselves, but they suffer from a formless discontent that rots into every love and prevents them finding satisfaction. Eternally they are unsatisfied, without ...
— Women's Wild Oats - Essays on the Re-fixing of Moral Standards • C. Gasquoine Hartley
... to furl their tails again," thought Hugh; but no. One on each side of the castle door, the peacocks solemnly advanced a few steps, then stood still—quite still—but yet with a certain waiting look about them as if they ...
— The Tapestry Room - A Child's Romance • Mrs. Molesworth
... freight, Arriv'd at Chrysa's strand; and when his bark Had reach'd the shelter of the deep sea bay, Their sails they furl'd, and lower'd to the hold; Slack'd the retaining shrouds, and quickly struck And stow'd away the mast; then with their sweeps Pull'd for the beach, and cast their anchors out, And made her fast ...
— The Iliad • Homer
... presently the thick plaits of his forehead relaxed, and returning the gun to the rack, he went to the deck. Thou art but too good a fellow, Starbuck, he said lowly to the mate; then raising his voice to the crew: Furl the t'gallant-sails and close-reef the top-sails, fore and aft; back the main-yard; up Burtons, and break out in the main-hold. It were perhaps vain to surmise exactly why it was, that as respecting Starbuck, Ahab thus acted. It may have been a flash ...
— Moby-Dick • Melville
... brows will bloom with greener bays Than twine the chaplet of the minstrel's lays; Nor heed, while poring o'er each graver line, The far, faint music of a flute like mine. His was no head contentedly which press'd The downy pillow in obedient rest, Where lazy pilots, with their canvas furl'd, Let up the Gades of their mental world; His was no tongue which meanly stoop'd to wear The guise of virtue, while his heart was bare; But all he thought through ev'ry action ran; God's noblest work—I've known ...
— The Grand Old Man • Richard B. Cook
... no time in following their example, as far as he was able. To send down on deck any of his top-hamper, with his limited crew, was of course quite out of the question, but he called all hands, and, hurrying them aloft, set them to work, first to furl all the light upper canvas, and then to close-reef both topsails. This done, he ordered them to furl the main and fore courses, ...
— The Voyage of the Aurora • Harry Collingwood
... thunder and lightning. At midnight we anchored within three miles of the scene of action; the report of a gun on shore was still heard at intervals, but all was soon quiet, except the shipping in the mole, which continued to burn, keeping all around brilliantly illuminated. We now attempted to furl sails, but the men were so thoroughly stiffened by the short period of inaction since the firing had ceased, that they stuck almost powerless to the yards; after great exertion, the gaskets were somehow passed round the yards, and the labours of the day ended; grog ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 13, - Issue 377, June 27, 1829 • Various
... ports, the fleet destined for Troy, nor that Jove had breathed an adverse wind over Euripus, softening one breeze so that some mortals might rejoice in their [expanded] sails, but to others a pain, to others difficulty, to some to set sail, to others to furl their sails, but to others to tarry. In truth the race of mortals is full of troubles, is full of troubles, and it necessarily befalls men to find some misfortune. Alas! alas! thou daughter of Tyndarus, who hast brought many sufferings, and many ...
— The Tragedies of Euripides, Volume I. • Euripides
... calafatare. The now disused verb "to pay" is from the Italian pagare;—it survives only in the nautical aphorism, "Here's the Devil to pay,"—that is, to pitch the ship,—"and no pitch hot." In handing the sails, "to loose" is good English,—"to furl" is Armorican, and belongs to the Mediterranean class of words. "To rake," which is applied to spars, is from the Saxon racian, to incline;—"to steeve," which is applied to the bowsprit, and often pronounced "stave," is from the Italian stivare. When we get below-decks, we find ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 12, October, 1858 • Various
... to heaven is broader than the world, And deeper than the kingdoms of the dead; And up its ample paths the nations tread With all their banners furl'd." ...
— The Destiny of the Soul - A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life • William Rounseville Alger
... against the western glow. As the spectators watched her, those among them who knew a little about nautical matters guessed that this must be a man-of-war from the rapidity with which she began to furl her sails—letting the golden light shine along between her spars; while they further concluded, from the fact that only a kedge was thrown out at her bows, that her stay in these ...
— The Beautiful Wretch; The Pupil of Aurelius; and The Four Macnicols • William Black
... the cook, nor I, am a man of other times, but are all men of to-day; so you must call us but three, after all. I know we can do much; but a gale may come that would teach us our insignificance. As it is, we are barely able to furl the main-top-gallant-sail in a squall, leaving one hand at the wheel, and another to let go rigging. No, no, Moses; we must admit we are rather short-handed, putting the best face on ...
— Miles Wallingford - Sequel to "Afloat and Ashore" • James Fenimore Cooper
... by the Fidelity. While de Weert was sailing directly in the wake of the admiral, who led the fleet, an accident happened on board the yacht, which had the wind of the Fidelity, which obliged both the Faith and the Fidelity, the former being de Weert's ship, to furl their sails, and lie to for assisting the yacht. The admiral continued his course, thinking that the other ships continued to follow him, and that the fog prevented them from being seen by the watch. The vice-admiral also was obliged to furl his sails shortly after, the fog ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume X • Robert Kerr
... of midnight swells, the sails are furl'd, Deep sounds the lead, but finds no friendly shore, Fast o'er the waves the wretched bark is hurl'd, 'O Ellen, Ellen! ...
— The Mysteries of Udolpho • Ann Radcliffe
... is like mixing drinks, making 'em more elevating to the thoughts, I cal'late I'd best do a little more mixing. There's going to be a squall right soon that'll test the ribs of the old salvation ark to the cracking p'int. If I was you I'd furl my sails a mite, and ...
— Captain Pott's Minister • Francis L. Cooper
... made a furious onslaught, and the gate was roughly handled, but the more it shook and swung, the more derisive was Nancy's laughter, as she clutched a firm hold with her small hands, and swayed to and fro, calling out excitedly, 'Furl the main-sail! Stand by, lads—steady—starboard hard! Port your helm! Rocks to leeward! Reef the top-sail! Breakers ...
— Teddy's Button • Amy Le Feuvre
... sort of nature they are furnished with. First, as to name of "birdless,"—that derives From very fact, because they noxious be Unto all birds. For when above those spots In horizontal flight the birds have come, Forgetting to oar with wings, they furl their sails, And, with down-drooping of their delicate necks, Fall headlong into earth, if haply such The nature of the spots, or into water, If haply spreads thereunder Birdless tarn. Such spot's at Cumae, ...
— Of The Nature of Things • [Titus Lucretius Carus] Lucretius
... sail, with a gentle breeze right aft, but scarcely had we lost sight of the islands when a heavy gale sprang up. The lighter canvas was instantly handed—young Sam and one of the men who had gone in the boat were ordered out on the jibboom to furl the flying-jib. As they were about this work, a tremendous sea struck the bows, the gaskets got loose, the jibboom was carried away, and with it the two poor fellows who were endeavouring to secure the sail. The captain, who had seen the accident, took no notice ...
— Tales of the Sea - And of our Jack Tars • W.H.G. Kingston
... his pipe, Laurence Stanninghame got out a hat and an umbrella, and set to work to brush the former and furl the latter prior to going out. The hat was not of that uniform and glossy smoothness which one could see into to shave, and the umbrella was weather-beaten of aspect. The morning coat, though well cut, was shiny at the ...
— The Sign of the Spider • Bertram Mitford
... the main, and a storm-jib," Grief said to the mate. "And put all the reefs into the working canvas before you furl down. No telling what we may need. Put on double gaskets while ...
— A Son Of The Sun • Jack London
... replied I, "and we may as well put them down on the log-board—North Foreland Light N.N.W. 1/4 W. Why, we should see the Tongue buoy. Now we'll drop the anchor and furl the sails, if you please, sir—we can do nothing at present." We did so: the fog came on thicker than before, and with it a drizzling rain and wind from the S. At dusk there was no change, or prospect of it. The men went down to supper, and the watch was set. Bramble and I ...
— Poor Jack • Frederick Marryat
... is a soaring soul, As free as a mountain bird, His energetic fist should be ready to resist A dictatorial word. His nose should pant and his lip should curl, His cheeks should flame and his brow should furl, His bosom should heave and his heart should glow, And his fist be ever ready ...
— The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan - The 14 Gilbert And Sullivan Plays • William Schwenk Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
... astern instead of ahead, it would not be so bad. As it is, the Roland at the utmost cannot make more than three miles an hour. Were I on my schooner and had the same storm blown up so suddenly, we should not have had time to furl a sail. We should have been lost. Thank the Lord, it is better on modern steamers. Nevertheless, I feel more comfortable on my four-master, and the devil knows, I'd like ...
— Atlantis • Gerhart Hauptmann
... and a main-royal; our fore-royal mast was snugly stowed alongside the long-boat on deck, where, at that tempestuous season, the main one should also have been. The order at length was given, "Clew up the main-royal! Let a hand go aloft and furl it." ...
— Jack in the Forecastle • John Sherburne Sleeper
... winds and waves appease, Breathe on our swelling sails a prosp'rous wind, And smooth our passage to the port assign'd!' The gentle gales their flagging force renew, And now the happy harbor is in view. Minerva's temple then salutes our sight, Plac'd, as a landmark, on the mountain's height. We furl our sails, and turn the prows to shore; The curling waters round the galleys roar. The land lies open to the raging east, Then, bending like a bow, with rocks compress'd, Shuts out the storms; the winds and ...
— The Aeneid • Virgil
... arrival) to witness the Dido anchored almost in the center of their town, her mast-heads towering above the highest trees of their jungle; the loud report of her heavy two-and-thirty pounder guns, and the running aloft, to furl sails, of 150 seamen, in their clean white dresses, and with the band playing, all which helped to make an impression that will not easily be forgotten at Sarawak. I was anxious that Mr. Brooke should land with all the ...
— The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido - For the Suppression of Piracy • Henry Keppel
... hush'd, and no more turns the mill, With its light sails upon yon rising crest; Its busy music now awhile is still, And not a sound heaves up from Nature's breast; The barks upon the river smoothly ride, With sails all furl'd, and flags that listless fall, Unrock'd, unshaken by the flowing tide; The cattle lazy lie within the stall; And thus the Time-stream on doth sweetly glide, Bearing repose and ...
— Poems • Walter R. Cassels
... winter's returning, And the voice of the shade Shall be sorrow and mourning. Man's vigour shall fail As his locks shall grow hoary, And where is the tale Of his youth and his glory? My life is a dream— My fate darkly furl'd; I a hermit would seem 'Mid the crowd of the world. Oh! let me be free Of these scenes that encumber, And enjoy what may be Of my ...
— The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume IV. - The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century • Various
... send the men aloft, and furl the main top-sail, altogether; and run down the fore stay-sail. We can get it up again, as soon as the first burst is over. Put four ...
— At the Point of the Bayonet - A Tale of the Mahratta War • G. A. Henty
... once under not only very harsh, but also very incompetent officers; and on one occasion, after toiling on the foreyard in a violent night-squall, with some of the best seamen aboard, in fruitless attempts to furl up the sail, he had to descend, cap in hand, at the risk of a flogging, and humbly implore the boy-lieutenant in charge that he should order the vessel's head to be laid in a certain direction. Luckily for him, the advice was taken by the young gentleman, and in a few minutes ...
— My Schools and Schoolmasters - or The Story of my Education. • Hugh Miller
... the ships had been lying at anchor all night in a fog, and at sunlight in the morning lights seemed burning on the sea. But Erik the Red said, "It is a fleet of Danish ships, and the sun strikes on the gilded dragon crests; furl the sail and take to the oars." They rowed their best, yet the Danish ships were overtaking them, when Erik the Red ordered his men to throw wood overboard and cover it with Danish plunder. This made some delay, as the Danes stopped to pick it up, and in ...
— Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic • Thomas Wentworth Higginson
... teocallis tower" of Tuloom. As you gaze down from its height, all things that float upon the ocean seem equalized. Look at the crowded life on yonder frigate, coming in full-sailed before the steady sea-breeze. To furl that heavy canvas, a hundred men cluster like bees upon the yards, yet to us upon this height it is all but a plaything for the eyes, and we turn with equal interest from that thronged floating citadel to some ...
— Malbone - An Oldport Romance • Thomas Wentworth Higginson
... Two men agreed one night to toss up a penny and to decide thereby as to which of them should do the full hour, in order that one of them might be relieved from his work—for, be it said, unless there are yards to trim, or sails to furl or set, the watch on deck can lie down to rest, but under no circumstance is any seaman allowed to go below until the four hours are expired. However, after a little parleying, they came to the conclusion that each would ...
— From Lower Deck to Pulpit • Henry Cowling
... at a port, where I embarked. We set sail, and having touched at several ports of Terra Firma, and some of the eastern islands, we put out to sea, and were seized by such a sudden gust of wind, as obliged the captain to furl his sails, and to take all other necessary precautions, to prevent the danger that threatened us; but all was in vain; our endeavours took no effect; the sails were torn in a thousand pieces, and the ship was stranded, so that a great many of the merchants ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments Volume 1 • Anonymous
... infraction of our agreement was on the main-lower-topsail. This they attempted to furl. The carrying away of the crojack and the blowing away of the mizzen-lower-topsail gave me freedom to see and aim, and when the tiny messengers from my rifle began to spat through the canvas and to spat against the steel of ...
— The Mutiny of the Elsinore • Jack London
... as I say, one is condemned to the society of a disagreeable person, it generally happens that on his discovering one to be harmless and friendly he will furl his spines and become, if not an animal that one can safely stroke, at least an animal whose proximity it is not necessary to dread and avoid. One can generally establish a modus vivendi, and unless the man is untrustworthy as well, one may hope to live peacefully with him. The worst point ...
— The Silent Isle • Arthur Christopher Benson
... could swim on the ocean's brim, And, when wearied, its sail could furl, And sink to sleep in the great sea-deep, In its palace all ...
— Poems Every Child Should Know - The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library • Various
... answer, partly because I am exasperated, partly because at this moment my eye is caught by an object in a shop-window—a traveling-bag, with its mouth invitingly open, displaying all manner of manly conveniences. I hastily furl my green umbrella, and step in. My squire does not follow me. I hardly notice the fact, but suppose that he is standing outside in the sun. However, when I reissue forth, I find that he has disappeared. ...
— Nancy - A Novel • Rhoda Broughton
... away? Fly no more! Whither away wi' the singing sail? whither away wi' the oar? Whither away from the high green field and the happy blossoming shore? Weary mariners, hither away, One and all, one and all, Weary mariners, come and play; We will sing to you all the day; Furl the sail and the foam will fall From the prow! one and all Furl the sail! drop the oar! Leap ashore! Know danger and trouble and toil no more. Whither away wi' the sail and the oar? Drop the oar, Leap ashore, Fly no more! ...
— The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson • Tennyson
... aforetime, Bitterness swelling his breast at the thought of the slender Briseis Forcefully torn from his side. Meanwhile ever-prudent Odysseus Safe into Chrysa had come with the hecatomb vow'd to Apollo. They, when at last they arrived in the spacious recess of the harbour, Furl'd with alertness their sail, and bestow'd in the depth of the galley, Loosen'd the ropes from the mast, and depress'd it to fix in the mast-hold, Push'd with their oars to the landing, and anchor'd and fasten'd the hausers; Then with ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 367, May 1846 • Various
... confined to his cabin by illness, and the crew suffered severely from scurvy. "At one period," says Steller, "only ten persons were capable of duty, and they were too weak to furl the sails, so that the ship was left to the mercy of the elements. Not only the sick died, but those who pretended to be healthy fainted and fell down dead when relieved ...
— Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar - Life • Thomas Wallace Knox
... laid across the deck. On each mast is a single sail of matting, made from the fibres of the bamboo, and stretched by means of poles of that reed, running across, at the distance of about two feet from each other. These sails are frequently made to furl and unfurl like a fan. When well hoisted up and braced almost fore and aft, or parallel with the sides of the ship, a Chinese vessel will sail within three and a half, or four points of the wind; but they lose all this advantage over ships of Europe by ...
— Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey thr • John Barrow
... State abjured her: the rising generation needed no fairies, but was content with football and cricket, 'Treasure Island,' and the Latin Grammar. Education, Philosophy, and the Philistines had made of the island she once loved well a wilderness wherein no fairy might henceforth furl its wings. ...
— 'That Very Mab' • May Kendall and Andrew Lang
... that he would fall; he clutched, he bent, Clammy with natural terror to the shoes While idiotic promptings came and went. Snow fluttered on a wind-flaw and was spent; He saw the water darken. Someone yelled, "Frap it; don't stay to furl! Hold on!" He held. ...
— Modern British Poetry • Various
... by degrees on high doth rise ... The wheel at home counts in an holiday, Since while the mistress worketh it may play. A tribe of female hands, but manly hearts, Forsake at home their pastry crust and tarts, To kneed the dirt, the samplers down they hurl, Their undulating silks they closely furl. The pick-axe one as a commandress holds, While t'other at her awk'ness gently scolds. One puffs and sweats, the other mutters why Can't you promove your work so fast as I? Some dig, some delve, and others' hands do feel The little wagon's weight ...
— Woman's Life in Colonial Days • Carl Holliday
... day I will write to you the whole 'grund Idee' of a zikr, which is, in fact, an attempt to make present 'the communion of saints,' dead or living. As I write arrives the Arooset er-rallee, and my crew furl her big sail quite 'Bristol fashion.' My men have come together again, some from Nubia and some from the Delta; and I shall go down with my ...
— Letters from Egypt • Lucie Duff Gordon
... North-West under a Reefed Mainsail, but this was scarcely done before the Main Tack gave way and we were glad to take in the Mainsail and lay too under the Mizen staysail and Ballanced Mizen, after which we reefd the Foresail and furl'd both it and the Mainsail. At Noon the Gale was a little abated, but had still heavy squalls attended with rain. Our Course made good to-day is North, a little Easterly, 29 miles; Latitude in per Account 34 degrees 50 minutes South; Longitude in 188 degrees ...
— Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World • James Cook
... was the dodge that Tom, in his wisdom, was to have put me up to, for at that moment the captain came on deck, and gave orders to furl the top-gallant sails. ...
— Fighting the Whales • R. M. Ballantyne
... morning of July 13, it began to blow very fresh, and increased so much, that they were obliged to furl their sail, and keep the boat before the wind and sea, which drove them off soundings. In the evening their gunner died. The weather now becoming moderate and the wind in the S. W. quarter, they made sail, not one being able to row or pull an oar at any rate; ...
— Thrilling Narratives of Mutiny, Murder and Piracy • Anonymous
... coming, we are coming! freedom's battle is begun! No hand shall furl her banner ere her victory be won! Our shields are locked for liberty, and mercy goes before: Tyrants tremble in your citadel! oppression shall be o'er. We will vote for Birney, We will vote for Birney, We're for Morris and ...
— The Liberty Minstrel • George W. Clark
... thought, Stephen, that perhaps these (repressionist) people are righter than you are—that if the worker gets free he won't work and that if the woman gets free she won't furl her sex and stop disturbing things? Suppose she is wicked as a sex, suppose she will trade on her power of exciting imaginative men. A lot of these new women run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, beguile some poor innocent of a man to ruin them ...
— The Passionate Friends • Herbert George Wells
... and spanker stowed. We hammered away under this, carryin' on very heavy, 'cause she were headin' west-nor'west, which were a good course, till eight bells in the arternoon watch, when the sea gittin' up so tremendiously we had to furl the reefed mainsail and mizzen topsail and close reef the fore ...
— Stories by American Authors, Volume 9 • Various
... leaped upon the house and helped Dolph and Otie furl the mainsail that lay sprawled in the lazy-jaeks. They took their time; the more imminent danger seemed to ...
— Blow The Man Down - A Romance Of The Coast - 1916 • Holman Day
... phrase often used for the word man, as, "a hand to the lead," "clap more hands on," &c.—To hand a sail, is to furl it.—To lend a hand, to assist.—Bear a hand, make haste.—Hand in the leech, a call in furling sails. To comprehend this it must be understood that the leech, or outer border of the sail, if left to belly or fill with wind, would set at naught all the powers of ...
— The Sailor's Word-Book • William Henry Smyth
... take them in until we saw three boys spring into the rigging of the CALIFORNIA; then they were all furled at once, but with orders to our boys to stay aloft at the top-gallant mast-heads and loose them again at the word. It was my duty to furl the fore-royal; and while standing by to loose it again, I had a fine view of the scene. From where I stood, the two vessels seemed nothing but spars and sails, while their narrow decks, far below, slanting over by the force of the wind aloft, appeared hardly capable of supporting ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain
... display'd: Each regiment in order grows, That of the tulip, pink, and rose. But when the vigilant patrol Of stars walks round about the pole, Their leaves, that to the stalks are curl'd, Seem to their staves the ensigns furl'd. Then in some flower's beloved hut Each bee, as sentinel, is shut, And sleeps so too; but if once stirr'd, She runs you through, nor asks the word. O thou, that dear and happy Isle, The garden of the world erewhile, Thou Paradise of the four seas Which ...
— Book of English Verse • Bulchevy
... sight. Before evening the anchor was dropped in one of the deep voes which run up far inland all round the coast. The inhabitants of the village, on its shores, gazed with astonishment at the battered vessel, and the way in which the sails, which the crew had not strength to furl, fluttered from the yards. In a short time a number of boats, with friendly visitors, were on board, and the news was sent to Lerwick that the long missing "Kate" had returned. Archy sent a few lines to his mother; he ...
— Archibald Hughson - An Arctic Story • W.H.G. Kingston
... in the midway field, They drop their arms; the banded nations yield. When sad Burgoyne, in one disastrous day, Sees future crowns and former wreaths decay, His banners furl'd, his long battalions wheel'd To pile their muskets on the battle field; While two pacific armies shade one plain, The mighty ...
— The Columbiad • Joel Barlow
... your gold-eyed plumage furl, Bow your wide horns, your spiral trunks uncurl; Glitter, ye Glow-worms, on your mossy beds; Descend, ye Spiders, on your lengthen'd threads; Slide here, ye horned Snails, with varnish'd shells; 30 Ye Bee-nymphs, listen in your ...
— The Botanic Garden. Part II. - Containing The Loves of the Plants. A Poem. - With Philosophical Notes. • Erasmus Darwin
... From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue; Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm, With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunderstorm; Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battleflags were furl'd In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world. There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe, And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in ...
— Poems Teachers Ask For • Various
... will ere long be at their ruddiest, and blush Good-night. The thrush, in green dells, on long-shadowed leafy spray, pours gushing his glad serenade, to the babble of brooks grown audibler; silence is stealing over the Earth. Your dusty Mill of Valmy, as all other mills and drudgeries, may furl its canvass, and cease swashing and circling. The swenkt grinders in this Treadmill of an Earth have ground out another Day; and lounge there, as we say, in village-groups; movable, or ranked on social ...
— The French Revolution • Thomas Carlyle
... were given to furl the fore and mizen topsails. With immense efforts men crawled aloft through a merciless buffeting, saved the canvas and crawled down almost exhausted, to bear in panting silence the cruel battering of the seas. Perhaps for the first time in the history of the merchant service the ...
— The Nigger Of The "Narcissus" - A Tale Of The Forecastle • Joseph Conrad
... "We'll furl it while they're having tea," said the First Lieutenant. "But how the deuce they're going to get ashore the Lord knows. I'll have to hoist in the boats if it gets any worse. Keep an eye on the compass and see we aren't ...
— A Tall Ship - On Other Naval Occasions • Sir Lewis Anselm da Costa Ritchie
... the wind was so light that we made but little way. The night was very dark, and during it we lost sight of the Falcon. After Aveline had retired to her cabin, I observed that the captain called all the crew on deck, and ordered them to take in some of the sails and to furl the rest. I inquired why ...
— The Golden Grasshopper - A story of the days of Sir Thomas Gresham • W.H.G. Kingston
... and biscuit on the table and a bottle of rum, and bade me fall to. He told me to understand that I was captain of the ship; that I was at liberty to appoint officers under me; and that, though none of the convicts had been seafaring men, they had learnt how the ropes led and how to furl canvas, and would obey any orders for the common good which I might deliver. I ate and drank, being determined to put the best face I could on this extraordinary business, and asked for the captain's cabin, that I might find out what nautical instruments the brig carried. Swallow, ...
— The Honour of the Flag • W. Clark Russell
... east-coast weather, as you'll see presently. Howsomever, as I was saying," he continued, "I told them to take in the sails, being so minded, and rig out the oars. They didn't lose any time about it either, for as soon as I gave the order it was all haul down and furl up; and, getting a good grip of the water, they started pulling like madmen, putting their hearts into every stroke—although the day was so hot and sweltry that a fellow seemed to melt away into perspiration, even lying ...
— The Penang Pirate - and, The Lost Pinnace • John Conroy Hutcheson
... swan, her death-note singing, Sleep with wings in darkness furl'd? When will heaven its sweet bells ringing Call my spirit from this ...
— Three Wonder Plays • Lady I. A. Gregory
... to furl the sails, which, owing to the calm, had been hanging loose in the brails. And by help of a spare boom, used on the forecastle-deck sit a sweep or great oar, we endeavored to cast the brigantine's head ...
— Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I (of 2) • Herman Melville
... Since cruel fate has sunk our Justice Boat; Why should he sink, where nothing seem'd to press His lading little, and his ballast less? Tost in the waves of this tempestuous world, At length, his anchor fix'd and canvass furl'd, To Lazy-hill[1] retiring from his court, At his Ring's end[2] he founders in the port. With water[3] fill'd, he could no longer float, The common death of many a stronger boat. A post so fill'd on nature's laws entrenches: Benches ...
— Poems (Volume II.) • Jonathan Swift
... little distance suggest the form of many plants of brackish marsh and creek edges, and even the glasswort itself. When the day is gray, the flowers furl close and disappear, as it were, but when the sun beats full upon the sand, a myriad upraised fleshy little arms stretch out, each holding a coloured bowl to catch the sunbeams, as if the heat made molten the sand of quartz and turned it into pottery in tints of rose, yellow, amber, ...
— The Garden, You, and I • Mabel Osgood Wright
... the quarter-deck, Miss Blacklock," said the captain, touching his cap to the young lady, to whom he had been formally introduced by the principal. "We are going to loose and furl, and you can ...
— Up The Baltic - Young America in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark • Oliver Optic
... on watch with Second Officer Gibbs. At once we began to furl awnings and make secure against fire. The crew were all showing an anxious spirit, and everybody on board, including the four passengers, ...
— The San Francisco Calamity • Various
... sailed athwart the dashing sea, swollen with clashing billows, behold, the master (who stood on the gunwale examining the ocean in all directions) cried out with a great cry, and buffeted his face and pluckt out his beard and rent his raiment, and bade furl the sail and cast the anchors. So we said to him, "O Rais, what is the matter?" "Know, O my brethren (Allah preserve you!), that the wind hath gotten the better of us and hath driven us out of our course into ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 6 • Richard F. Burton
... Mate," asked Fred, as the men went aloft to furl sails, "do you call that densely-populated ...
— The Gold Hunter's Adventures - Or, Life in Australia • William H. Thomes
... sail, that she was barely within gunshot when the sun went down below the horizon, angry and fiery red. There was now great fear that she would escape, from the difficulty of keeping the glasses upon her during the night, in a heavy sea, and the expectation that she would furl all sail and allow us to pass her. It appeared, however, that this manoeuvre did not enter into the head of the captain of the privateer; he stood on under a press of sail, which even in day-time would have been considered alarming; and at daylight, ...
— Jacob Faithful • Captain Frederick Marryat
... sea, the ship canted suddenly with her head to the southward, where we had deep water; we immediately set our courses, jib and driver, and for some time had the must sanguine hopes of getting her off, but were unfortunately disappointed, and as the ebb made we were obliged again to furl sails. ...
— Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849 • William O. S. Gilly
... in the dust, Sacred till Time shall be no more: Spare it, fierce editors! your scorn— The dread "Rebellion's" o'er! Furl the great flag—hide cross and star, Thrust into darkness star and bar, But look! across the ages ...
— War Poetry of the South • Various
... through the fog, a sharp look-out for beacons and buoys, the song of the leads-man, the quick tramp of men clewing up sail, a heavy splash and the rattle of chain, and we are anchored fast in New London mud. "All hands furl sail," now; no noise, for the Saratoga lies right ahead, and on board of a man-of-war it is considered disgraceful to make a clatter in doing any kind of work. There is an eager race up the rigging, and every nerve ...
— Harper's Young People, November 11, 1879 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various
... a slice from infinity as in this sublime, immortal poem. The day before yesterday and the two days following, we read it together in the boat. We usually go out a long distance, and when the sea is quite still I furl the sail; and we read, rocked by the waves,—or rather, she reads and I listen. Surrounded by the glories of the sunset, far from the shore, with the most beautiful woman reading to me Dante, I was under a delusion, that I had been ...
— Without Dogma • Henryk Sienkiewicz
... was now well at sea, the wind and waves rising rapidly, the motion already considerable. Presently there was an order of "Lay aloft and furl the skysails," and then short shouts resounded from the darkness, showing that the work was being done. But in spite of this easing the vessel labored a good deal, and heavy spurts of spray began to ...
— Overland • John William De Forest
... ship were dining with the Captain (Johnson) who had just looked at the glass; it being a very fine day no one had any apprehension of a squall. The dinner was hardly over when the captain's eye caught the glass: he suddenly rose from table and hurrying on deck, ordered "All hands to turn up, and furl all sail immediately." They had just completed the order and were descending, when the ship was laid on her beam-ends, most of the men had a ducking, but that was all the mischief that happened. Three or four East Indiamen had already been destroyed by the same accident; ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 17, No. 476, Saturday, February 12, 1831 • Various
... his post," he shouted. "I fear the wind will veer suddenly before we have time to turn round, and blow harder than will be pleasant for us. Gray, go to the wheel. The rest of you mount the rigging, furl the sails, all, even the great topsail. Oh, here, ...
— The Shipwreck - A Story for the Young • Joseph Spillman
... The years between furl off: I seem to see 110 The sun-flecks, shaken the stirred foliage through, Dapple with gold his sober buff and blue And weave prophetic aureoles round the head That shines our beacon now nor darkens with the dead. O man of silent mood, A stranger among ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell • James Lowell
... And the men of the world Were gone back to the world. And the world's self was furl'd Far away from the heart of the woman. Her hand Droop'd, and from it, unloosed from their frail silken band, Fell those early love-letters, strewn, scatter'd, and shed At her feet—life's lost blossoms! Dejected, her head On ...
— Lucile • Owen Meredith
... course he had reached for it, so that it was to be seen how used she was to have all tiny things done for her, though this was not then of his tremulous observing. He did perceive, however, that he was to furl the dainty thing; he pressed the catch, and let down the top timidly, as if fearing to break or tear it; and, as it closed, held near his face, he caught a very faint, sweet, spicy emanation from it ...
— The Conquest of Canaan • Booth Tarkington
... his sails aback, and prepared for action; that he hailed them at a considerable distance, and bade them bring to; when they came alongside, notwithstanding his hail, he ordered them to clew up their courses, and furl their topsails, otherwise he would be foul of their quarters; that, hearing this salute, they luffed all at once, till their cloth shook in the wind; then he hallooed in a loud voice, that his sweetheart, Besselia Mizzen, were the broad pendant of beauty, ...
— The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves • Tobias Smollett
... not take them in until we saw three boys spring aloft into the rigging of the California; when they were all furled at once, but with orders to stay aloft at the top-gallant mastheads, and loose them again at the word. It was my duty to furl the fore royal; and while standing by to loose it again, I had a fine view of the scene. From where I stood, the two vessels seemed nothing but spars and sails, while their narrow decks, far below, slanting over by the ...
— Two Years Before the Mast • Richard Henry Dana
... was to be seen, the darkness was intense; and Newton consulted with Williams and Roberts as to what was their best plan of proceeding. It was agreed to haul up for a quarter of an hour, then furl all, and allow the privateer to pass them. This was put in execution: the convicts, now that there was no more firing, coming to their assistance. The next morning the weather proved hazy, and the schooner, who had evidently crowded sail in pursuit of them, ...
— Newton Forster • Frederick Marryat |
