The Sea: Background To Literature (1958)

[Music] [Music] there's always a thrill to getting underway leaving the port of New York bound for the Mediterranean with the cargo secured there's some free time for me Joe Palmer third mate aboard the exitor time to relax and do a little thinking the sea does that sort of thing to you makes you think and remember cool and deep strange and mysterious friend or enemy that's the sea in a way it's like a great teacher as David says in the Bible they that go down to the sea in ships that do business in Great Waters these see the works of the Lord and see his wonders in the Deep I always wanted to see these things ever since I began to read about the sea in books that I still read over and over again below deck is my cabin where I keep my books this is home while I'm on board ship it's small but comfortable most of my books are about the sea the sea has always been an important part of literature on Long voyages reading books is a good way to relax besides one man couldn't possibly live all the sea experiences to be had but he can read about them in the literature of the sea for example I earn my living from the sea as a sailor others do different jobs at Sea many novels have captured the spirit of those who work on the sea one of the best I think is Captain's Courageous by rard Kipling the novel tells of a spoiled young boy named Harvey who joins the crew of a fishing Schooner by living with these fishermen and sharing their Adventures such as fishing for COD off the grand banks of newfinland the boy learns that there's more to life than soft living Harvey also discovers the courageous Dignity of men who earn their living from the sea and the value of true friendship but most important to Harvey Kipling tells us is that his sea experiences teach him that life is better with a purpose and that all men whether rich or poor are dignified human beings these are some of the lessons of Life a boy learns as he works as a fisherman on the high seas fishing is one way men make a living from the sea sailing is another a little over a hundred years ago in the age of the great sailing ships being a sailor was a tough job at a moment's notice you had to be ready to climb the rigging straight to the top in fair weather or foul reefing sales was an especially dangerous task Richard Henry Dana in his book two years before the Mast describes this experience how I got along I cannot now remember I laid out on the yard s and held on with all my strength I could not have been of much service for I remember having been sick several times before I left the topsil yard as a true account of American shipping in the 1830s two years before the Mast is an historical document the sea has always played an important part in man's history The Lure of the sea led men to discover and explore far off places to make history the islands of the South Seas were first described by the English Captain James Cook in his journals cook wrote firsthand reports about The lives and customs of the people who lived in this exotic part of the world yes I know that exploration of the world is part of the literature of the sea many writers have used actual places and historic events as backgrounds for fictional Tales Tahiti for example is the background for a very famous historical novel about the South Seas nordol and Hall's Mutiny on the Bounty this story of the 18th century English ship Bounty is based on actual events I remember an exciting scene from that Mutiny as originally written by John PRI Master of the bounty just at the dawn of day I was alarmed but when I jumped up a man laid his hand on my rest and told me to lay down again sir you are a prisoner they told me to hold my tongue or I was a dead man the entire thrilling account of the Mutiny and what happened afterwards to the ship's crew is the basis of the exciting novel Mutiny on the Bounty another adventurous novel that tells of a mutiny is Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson this time the Mutiny is planned by Pirates they scheme together to take away from a young boy named Jim Hawkins the map leading to a fabulous buried treasure luckily Jim hiding in the ship's Apple Barrel overhears the scheme and warns the captain how the Pirates are outwitted in their plans to steal the treasure makes for a real reading treat hunting for buried treasure was only one of the excitements of the sea men of 19th century New England found that hunting whales was another ishma the hero of Herman Melville's novel Mobi dick tells a violent story of wailing in the mid 19th century the whaler on which the story is said is called the pquad this is the way ishmail describes her she was a ship of the old school rather small if anything long seasoned and weather stained in the typhoons and comms of all four oceans the master of the PE quad is one of the most amazing figures ever created in a sea story Captain Ahab ahab's passionate search for a white whale forms the basis for one of the best studies of intense human emotions ever written in the English language yes I know the sea has always affected the emotions of men many writers have attempted to translate these emotions into words often through poetry what kinds of emotions loneliness for example loneliness at Sea Samuel Taylor kidge in the rhyme of the Ancient Mariner expressed it this way this Soul had been alone on a wide wide sea so lonely was that God himself scarce seem it there to be but most times you get a feeling that the sea is filled with life and friendship one poet sums it up this way a life on the ocean wave a home on the Rolling Deep we shoot through the sparkling foam like an ocean bird set free like the ocean bird our home will'll find far out on the sea and when you set sail late in the day you begin to think of the great mystery of the Sea and the greater Mystery of Life Alfred Lord Tennyson compared a sea Voyage to the final voyage of life in his poem crossing the bar Sunset and evening star and one clear call for me and may there be no moaning of the bar when I put out to see Twilight and evening Bell and after that the dark and may there be no sadness of farewell when I embark sad emotions glad emotions all inspired by the sea you'll find them here in the literature of the sea books that tell about the sea as a place to work as part of man's history as a place of Adventure and part of man's emotions these books and many more like them are good reading they can open for you a new world the world of the sea as a background for literature