ON DECK
The sky was moonless but the sea flung back
With greater brilliance half the zodiac.
As clear below as clear above, the Lion
Far on the eastern quarter stalked the Bear:
Polaris off the starboard beam - and there
Upon the port the Dog-star trailed Orion.
Capella was so close, a hand might seize
The sapphire with the silver Pleiades.
And further to the south - a finger span,
Swam Betelgeuse and red Aldebaran.
Right through from east to west the ocean glassed
The billions of that snowy caravan
Ranging the highway which the Milkmaid passed.
9.05 P.M. CALIFORNIAN FLASHING
I say, old man, we're stuck fast in this place,
More than an hour. Field ice for miles about.
TITANIC
Say, 'Californian,' shut up, keep out,
You're jamming all my signals with Cape Race.
10 P.M.
A group of boys had gathered round a spot
Upon the rail where a dial registered
The speed, and waiting each three minutes heard
The taffrail log bell tallying off a knot.
11.20 P.M. BEHIND A DECK HOUSE
First act to fifth act in a tragic plan,
Stage time, real time - a woman and a man,
Entering a play within a play, dismiss
The pageant on the ocean with a kiss.
Eleven-twenty curtain! Whether true
Or false the pantomimic vows they make
Will not be known till at the fifth they take
Their mutual exit twenty after two.
11.25 P.M.
Position half-a-mile from edge of floe,
Hove-to for many hours, bored with delay,
The Californian fifteen miles away,
And fearful of the pack, has now begun
To turn her engines over under slow
Bell, and the operator, his task done,
Unclamps the 'phones and ends his dullest day.
The ocean sinuous, half-past eleven;
A silence broken only by the seven
Bells and the look-out calls, the log-book showing
Knots forty-five within two hours - not quite
The expected best as yet - but she was going
With all her bulkheads open through the night,
For not a bridge induction light was glowing.
Over the stern zenith and nadir met
In the wash of the reciprocating set.
The foam in bevelled mirrors multiplied
And shattered constellations. In between,
The pitch from the main drive of the turbine
Emerged like tuna breaches to divide
Against the rudder, only to unite
With the converging wake from either side.
Under the counter, blending with the spill
Of stars - the white and blue - the yellow light
Of Jupiter hung like a daffodil.
D-179
'Ace full! A long time since I had a pot.'
(... passim... poker game omitted)
Mac: 'As the Scotchman once said to the Sphinx,
I'd just like to know what he thinks,
I'll ask him, he cried,
And the Sphinx - he replied,
It's the hell of a time between drinks.'
Cripps (watch in hand):
'Time? Eleven forty-four, to be precise.'
Harry: 'Jones -that will fatten up your pocket-book.
My throat's like charcoal. Ring for soda and ice.'
Van R.: 'Ice: God! Look - take it through the port-hole - look!'
A signal from the crow's nest. Three bells pealed:
The look-out telephoned - Something ahead,
Hard to make out, sir; looks like ... iceberg dead
On starboard bow!
MURDOCH HOLDING THE BRIDGE-WATCH
Starboard your helm: ship heeled
To port. From bridge to engine-room the clang
Of the telegraph. Danger. Stop. A hand sprang
To the throttle; the valves closed, and with the churn
Of the reverse the sea boiled at the stern.
Smith hurried to the bridge and Murdoch closed
The bulkheads of the ship as he supposed,
But could not know that with those riven floors
The electro-magnets failed upon the doors.
No shock! No more than if something alive
Had brushed her as she passed. The bow had missed.
Under the vast momentum of her drive
She went a mile. But why that ominous five
Degrees (within five minutes) of a list?
IN A CABIN
'What was that, steward?'
'Seems like she hit a sea, sir.'
'But there's no sea; calm as a landlocked bay
It is; lost a propellor blade?'
'Maybe, sir.'
'She's stopped.'
'Just cautious like, feeling her way,
There's ice about. It's dark, no moon tonight,
Nothing to fear, I'm sure, sir.'
For so slight
The answer of the helm, it did not break
The sleep of hundreds: some who were awake
Went up on deck, but soon were satisfied
That nothing in the shape of wind or tide
Or rock or ice could harm that huge bulk spread
On the Atlantic, and went back to bed.
CAPTAIN IN WIRELESS ROOM
'We've struck an iceberg - glancing blow: as yet
Don't know extent; looks serious; so get
Ready to send out general call for aid;
I'll tell you when - having inspection made.'
REPORT OF SHIP'S CARPENTER AND FOURTH OFFICER
A starboard cut three hundred feet or more
From foremast to amidships. Iceberg tore
Right at the bilge turn through the double skin:
Some boiler rooms and bunkers driven in;
The forward five compartments flooded - mail
Bags floating. Would the engine power avail
To stem the rush?
WIRELESS ROOM, FIRST OFFICER PHILLIPS AT KEY
Titanic, C.Q.D.
Collision: iceberg: damaged starboard side:
Distinct list forward. (Had Smith magnified
The danger? Over-anxious certainly.)
The second (joking) - 'Try new call, maybe
Last chance you'll have to send it.'
S.O.S.
Then back to older signal of distress.
On the same instant the Carpathia called,
The distance sixty miles - Putting about,
And heading for you; double watch installed
In engine-room, in stokehold and look-out.
Four hours the run, should not the ice retard
The speed; but taking chances: coming hard!
