But it was not to be: a tauroid knock
Shook the ash-panels of my door with pain,
And to my vexed “Come in! “Ahab appeared.
Homespun, at least,—thereat I swiftly felt
Somewhat of comfort,—tall, knock-kneed, and gaunt:
Face windy-red, hands horny, large, and loose,
That groped for mine, and finding, dropped at once
As half ashamed: and thereupon he grinned.
I waited, silent, till the silence grew
Oppressive: but he bore it like a man;