thanks for the gratuitous conrad trip. and, why am i not surprised? :)
On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:12:58 -0000 "Bob W" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I've just fallen madly deeply in love with this....... > > > > <http://www.bowcrest.com/Recreational%20Barges-breezand.htm> > > > > You should buy a yawl, change your name to Marlow and sail to the > uttermost ends of the earth. > > "The NELLIE, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter > of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was > nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it > was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide. > > The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning > of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were > welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned > sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still > in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished > sprits. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in > vanishing flatness. The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther > back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding > motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth. > > [...] > > Marlow sat cross-legged right aft, leaning against the mizzen-mast. > He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an > ascetic aspect, and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands > outwards, resembled an idol. The director, satisfied the anchor had > good hold, made his way aft and sat down amongst us. We exchanged a > few words lazily. Afterwards there was silence on board the yacht. > For some reason or other we did not begin that game of dominoes. We > felt meditative, and fit for nothing but placid staring. The day was > ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water > shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity > of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marsh was like a gauzy > and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping > the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west, > brooding over the upper reaches, became more sombre every minute, as > if angered by the approach of the sun. And at last, in its curved and > imperceptible fall, the sun sank low, and from glowing white changed > to a dull red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out > suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over > a crowd of men. > > Forthwith a change came over the waters, and the serenity became > less brilliant but more profound. The old river in its broad reach > rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service > done to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil > dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth. > > [...] > It had known the ships and the men. They had sailed from Deptford, > from Greenwich, from Erith -- the adventurers and the settlers; > kings' ships and the ships of men on 'Change; captains, admirals, the > dark "interlopers" of the Eastern trade, and the commissioned > "generals" of East India fleets. Hunters for gold or pursuers of > fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and > often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of > a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the > ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth! . . . The > dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires. The > sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear > along the shore. The Chapman light-house, a three-legged thing erect > on a mud-flat, shone strongly. Lights of ships moved in the fairway > -- a great stir of lights going up and going down. And farther west > on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked > ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare > under the stars. > > "And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark > places of the earth."" > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
