Various
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction / Volume 10, No. 285, December 1, 1827
CASTLE OF THE SEVEN TOWERS AT CONSTANTINOPLE
th November, 1827. PASCHE.COLD WINTER IS COMING
(For the Mirror.)Cold Winter is comingtake care of your toes
Gay Zephyr has folded his fan;
His lances are couch'd in the ice-wind that blows,
So mail up as warm as you can.
Cold Winter is cominghe's ready to start
From his home on the mountains afar;
He is shrunken and palehe looks froze to the heart,
And snow-wreaths embellish his car.
Cold Winter is comingHark! did ye not hear
The blast which his herald has blown?
The children of Nature all trembled in fear,
For to them is his power made known.
Cold Winter is comingthere breathes not a flower,
Though sometimes the day may pass fair!
The soft lute is removed from the lady's lorn bower,
Lest it coldly be touched by the air.
Cold Winter is comingall stript are the groves,
The passage-bird hastens away;
To the lovely blue South, like the tourist, he roves,
And returns like the sunshine in May.
Cold Winter is cominghe'll breathe on the stream
And the bane of his petrific breath
Will seal up the waters; till, in the moon-beam.
They lie stirless, as slumber or death!
Cold Winter is coming, and soon shall we see
On the panes, by that genius Jack Frost,
Fine drawings of mountain, stream, tower, an tree
Framed and glazed too, without any cost.
Cold Winter is comingye delicate fair,
Take care when your hyson you sip;
Drink it quick, and don't talk, lest he come unaware,
And turn it to ice on your lip.
Cold Winter is comingI charge you again
Muffle warmof the tyrant beware
He's so brave, that to strike the young hero he's fain
He's so told he'll not favour the fair.
Cold Winter is comingI've said so before
It seems I've not much else to say;
Yes, Winter is coming, and God help the poor!
I wish it was going away,
Nov 5th 1827. C. COLE.
NAUTICAL PHRASES
(To the Editor of the Mirror.)Sir,The annexed Definition of Nautical, Names, &c. will not, I dare say, to most of your readers, be uninteresting. G.W.N.
The Starboard is the right side of the ship, as the lar-board is the left.
The Parrel is a movable band-rope, used to fasten the yard to its respective mast.
Backstays are long ropes, reaching from the right and left sides of the vessel to the mast heads.
Travellers are slight iron rings, encircling the backstays, and are used for hoisting the top-gallant yards, and confining them to the backstays.
Rolling-tackle is a number of pulleys, engaged to confine the yard to the weather side of the mast; this tackle is much used in a rough sea.
Booms are masts or yards, lying on board in reserve.
The Courses are the mainsail, foresail, and the mizen.
The Staysail is of a triangular form, running upon the fore-topmast-stay, just above the bowsprit.
Reef-tackles are ropes employed in the operation of reefing. &c.
Clue-lines are used to truss up the clues, or to lower the corners of the largest sails.
The Brake is the handle of the pump, by which it is worked.
Bowlines are ropes for keeping the windward edge of the sail steady.
The Wells are places in the ship's hold for the pumps, &c.
Earings are small lines, by which the uppermost corners of the largest sails are secured to the yard-arms.
Reefs are spaces by which the principal sails are reduced when the wind is too high, and enlarged again when its force abates.
Topsails are long and square, of the second degree in magnitude in all great ships.
Haliards are single ropes, by which the sails are hoisted up and lowered at pleasure.
Tally is the operation of hauling aft the sheets, or drawing them in the direction of the ship's stern.
Towing is the operation of drawing a vessel forward by means of long lines, &c.
Timoneer, from the French timonnier, is a name given, on particular occasions, to the steersman of a ship.