Be quenched by the overwhelming floods;

When poor Laërtes feels the shock

Of reeling Ithaca, and thinks

That his island realm will be swallowed up:

Then, if the fierce winds die away,

The waves sink back in their quiet depths;

And the sea, which of late the vessels feared,590

Now far and wide with swelling sails

Is overspread, while tiny skiffs

Skim safely o'er its harmless breast;