Ships

“She walks the waters like a thing of life,And seems to dare the elements to strife.”

“She bears her down majestically near,Speed on her prow, and terror in her tier.”

“I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a [large] ship to founder. . . . Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”

“For why drives on that ship so fast, And closes from behind.”

“It is a national humiliation that we are now compelled to pay from twenty to thirty million dollars annually (exclusive of passage money which we should share with vessels of other nations) to foreigners for doing the work which should be done by American vessels American built, American owned, and American manned. This is a direct drain upon the resources of the country of just so much money; equal to casting it into the sea, so far as this nation is concerned.”

“A great ship asks deep waters.”

“It is cheering to see that the rats are still around—the ship is not sinking.”

“Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.”

“I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.”

“And the wind plays on those great sonorous harps, the shrouds and masts of ships.”

“Build me straight, O worthy Master! And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!”

“There's not a ship that sails the ocean,And help to build the wooden wall!”

“Like ships that have gone down at sea,When heaven was all tranquillity.”

“The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne,As amorous of their strokes.”

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.”

“Ships, dim discover'd, dropping from the clouds.”

“A strong nor'wester's blowing, Bill; Unhappy folks on shore, now.”

“The true ship is the ship builder.”

“For she is such a smart little craft,Trim little, slim little craft!”

“The wooden wall alone should remain unconquered.”

“Ships that sailed for sunny isles,But never came to shore.”

“Morn on the waters, and purple and brightSee the tall vessel goes gallantly on.”

“Lord, Thou hast made this world below the shadow of a dream.Predestination in the stride o' yon connectin'-rod.”

“The Liner she's a lady, an' she never looks nor 'eeds—They're just the same as you an' me, a'-plyin' up an' down.”

“Her plates are scarred by the sun, dear lass,We're sagging south on the Long Trail, the trail that is always new.”

“Because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder.”

“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters.”

“And let our barks across the pathless floodHold different courses.”

“She comes majestic with her swelling sails,And now they ripple with the ruffling breeze.”

“It would have been as though he [Pres. Johnson] were in a boat of stone with masts of steel, sails of lead, ropes of iron, the devil at the helm, the wrath of God for a breeze, and hell for his destination.”

“And the stately ships go on To their haven under the hill.”

“Whoever you are, motion and reflection are especially for you,The divine ship sails the divine sea for you.”

“Speed on the ship;—But let her bear And Nature's sun and showers.”

“If all the ships I have at seaIf all my ships came home from sea.”

“One ship drives East, and one drives West,Which determines the way it goes.”

“A salvage service which hardly exceeds ordinary towage is naturally remunerated on a very different scale from an heroic rescue from imminent destruction.”

“The impulsive desire to save human life when in peril is one of the most beneficial instincts of humanity, and is nowhere more salutary in its results than in bringing help to those who, exposed to destruction from the fury of winds and waves, would perish if left without assistance.”

“I am sorry to see a decreasing tendency to aid vessels that are broken down.”

“It is of great importance that the laws by which the contracts of so numerous and so useful a body of men as the sailors are supposed to be guided, should not be overturned.”