“And first, let all our axes be secured,
To cut the masts and rigging from aboard;
Then to the quarters bind each plank and oar
To float between the vessel and the shore:
The longest cordage too must be conveyed
On deck, and to the weather-rails belayed:
So they, who haply reach alive the land,
Th’ extended lines may fasten on the strand,
Whene’er, loud thundering on the leeward shore,
While yet aloof, we hear the breakers roar: