Captain Paul by Alexandre Dumas

And oh! the little warlike world within! The well-reeved guns, the netted canopy; The hoarse command, the busy humming din When, at a word, the tops are mann'd on high, Hark to the boatswain's call, the cheering cry; While through the seaman's hands the tackle glides: Or schoolboy midshipman that, standing by, Strains his shrill pipe, as good or ill betides, And well the docile crew that skilful urchin guides. Byron.

As they advanced, the graceful form of the ship became more and more clearly defined, and although the vocation of the count did not lead him to admire beauty under such a form, yet he could not avoid being struck by the graceful model of her construction, the loftiness and strength of her masts, and the elegance of her rigging, which appeared, as it stood out against the richly tinted sky, reddened by the setting sun, to be composed of flexible and silky fibres, spun by some gigantic spider. There was not, however, any appearance of movement on board the ship, which seemed, either from inattention or contempt, to care but little for the visit she was about to receive.