Ms. Found in a Bottle by Edgar Allan Poe
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decayed charts of navigation . his manner was a wild mixture of_the peevishness of second childhood, and_the solemn dignity of a god . he at_length went on deck, and I_saw him no more .

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afeeling, for_which I_have no name, has taken possession of_my soul -- a sensation which will admit of no analysis, to_which_the lessons of bygone times are inadequate, and for_which I_fear futurity itself will offer me no key . to a mind constituted like my own, the latter consideration is an evil . I_shall never -- I_know that I_shall never -- be satisfied with regard to_the nature of_my conceptions . yet it_is_not wonderful that_these conceptions are indefinite, since they_have their origin in sources so utterly novel .a new sense -- a new entity is added to my soul .

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it_is long since I first trod the deck of_this terrible ship, and_the rays of_my destiny are, i_think, gathering to a focus . incomprehensible men ! wrapped up in meditations of a kind which I_cannot divine, they pass me by unnoticed . concealment is utter folly on my part, for_the people will not see . it_was but just now that I passed directly before_the eyes of_the mate -- it_was no long while ago that I ventured into_the captain's own private cabin, and took thence the materials with_which I write, and_have written . I_shall from_time to_time continue this journal . it_is true that I_may not find an opportunity of transmitting it to_the world, but i_will_not fall to make_the endeavour . at_the last moment i_will enclose the MS . in a bottle, and cast it within_the sea .

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an incident has occurred which_has given me new room for meditation . are such things the operation of ungoverned chance ? I had ventured upon deck and thrown myself down, without attracting any notice, among a pile of ratlin- stuff and old sails in_the bottom of_the yawl . while musing upon_the singularity of_my fate, I unwittingly daubed with a tar- brush the edges of a neatly- folded studding- sail which lay near me on a barrel . the studding- sail is now bent upon_the ship, and_the thoughtless touches of_the brush are spread out into_the word discovery .

I_have_made many observations lately upon_the structure of_the vessel . although well armed, she_is_not, i_think, a ship of war . her rigging, build, and general equipment, all negative a supposition of_this kind . what she_is_not, I_can easily perceive -- what she_is I_fear it_is impossible to_say . I_know not how it_is, but in scrutinizing her strange model and singular cast of spars, her huge size and overgrown suits of canvas, her severely simple bow and antiquated stern, there_will occasionally flash across my mind a sensation of familiar things, and there_is always mixed up with_such indistinct shadows of recollection, an unaccountable memory of old foreign chronicles and ages long_ago .

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I_have_been looking at_the timbers of_the ship . she_is built of a material to_which I_am a stranger . there_is a peculiar character about_the wood which strikes me as rendering it unfit for_the_purpose to_which it_has_been applied .I mean its extreme porousness, considered independently by_the worm- eaten condition which_is a consequence of navigation in_these seas, and apart from_the rottenness attendant upon age . it_will appear perhaps an observation somewhat over- curious, but this wood would_have every characteristic of Spanish oak, if Spanish oak were distended by any unnatural means .

in reading the above sentence a curious apothegm of an old weather- beaten Dutch navigator comes full upon my recollection ." it_is as sure," he_was wont to_say, when any doubt was entertained of_his veracity, " as sure as there_is a sea where the ship itself will grow in bulk like the living body of_the seaman ."

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about an hour ago, I_made bold to thrust myself among a group of_the crew . they paid me no manner of attention, and, although I stood in_the very midst of_them all, seemed utterly unconscious of_my presence . like the one I had at first seen in_the hold, they all bore about_them the marks of ahoary old age . their knees trembled with infirmity; their shoulders were bent double with decrepitude; their shrivelled skins rattled in_the wind; their voices were low, tremulous and broken; their eyes glistened with_the rheum of years; and their gray hairs streamed terribly in_the tempest . around them, on every part of_the deck, lay scattered mathematical instruments of_the most quaint and obsolete construction .

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I mentioned some_time_ago the bending of astudding- sail . from_that period the ship, being thrown dead off the wind, has continued her terrific course due south, with every rag of canvas packed upon her, from her trucks to her lower studding- sail booms, and rolling every moment her top- gallant yard-arms into_the most appalling hell of water which it can enter into_the mind of a man to imagine . I_have just left the deck, where I_find it impossible to maintain afooting, although the crew seem to experience little inconvenience . it appears to_me a miracle of miracles that_our enormous bulk is_not swallowed up at once and forever . we_are surely doomed to hover continually upon_the brink of eternity, without taking a final plunge into_the abyss . from billows a thousand times more stupendous than any I_have ever seen, we glide away with_the facility of_the arrowy sea- gull; and_the colossal waters rear their heads above us like demons of_the deep, but like demons confined to simple threats and forbidden to destroy . I_am led to attribute these frequent escapes to_the only natural cause which can account for such effect .-- I_must suppose the ship to_be within_the influence of some strong current, or impetuous under- tow .

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I_have_seen the captain face_to_face, and in_his own cabin -- but, as I expected, he paid me no attention . although in_his appearance there_is, to a casual observer, nothing which might bespeak him more or less_than man- still afeeling of irrepressible reverence and awe mingled with_the sensation of wonder with_which I regarded him . in stature he_is nearly my own height; that_is, about five feet eight inches . he_is of a well- knit and compact frame of body, neither robust nor remarkably otherwise . but it_is_the singularity of_the expression which reigns upon_the face -- it_is_the intense, the wonderful, the thrilling evidence of old age, so utter, so extreme, which excites within my spirit a sense -- a sentiment ineffable . his forehead, although little wrinkled, seems to bear upon it the stamp of a myriad of years .-- his gray hairs are records of_the past, and_his grayer eyes are Sybils of_the future . the cabin floor was thickly strewn with strange, iron-clasped folios, and mouldering instruments of science, and obsolete long- forgotten charts . his head was bowed down upon his hands, and he pored, with a fiery unquiet eye, over a paper which i_took to_be a commission, and which, at all events, bore the signature of a monarch . he muttered to himself, as did the first seaman whom I_saw in_the hold, some low peevish syllables of a foreign tongue, and although the speaker was close at my elbow, his voice seemed to reach my ears from_the distance of a mile .

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the ship and all in_it are imbued with_the spirit of Eld . the crew glide to and fro like the ghosts of buried centuries; their eyes have an eager and uneasy meaning; and when their fingers fall athwart my path in_the wild glare of_the battle-lanterns, I_feel as I_have never felt before, although I_have_been all my life a dealer in antiquities, and_have imbibed the shadows of fallen columns at Balbec, and Tadmor, and Persepolis, until my very soul has become a ruin .

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when I look around me I_feel ashamed of_my former apprehensions . if I trembled at_the blast which_has hitherto attended us, shall I not stand aghast at awarring of wind and ocean, to convey any idea of_which the words tornado and simoom are trivial and ineffective ? all in_the immediate vicinity of_the ship is_the blackness of eternal night, and a chaos of foamless water; but, about a league on either side of us, may_be seen, indistinctly and at intervals, stupendous ramparts of ice, towering away into_the desolate sky, and looking like the walls of_the universe .

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as I imagined, the ship proves to_be in a current; if_that appellation can properly be given to a tide which, howling and shrieking by_the white ice, thunders on to_the southward with a velocity like the headlong dashing of a cataract .

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to conceive the horror of_my sensations is, I presume, utterly impossible; yet a curiosity to penetrate the mysteries of_these awful regions, predominates even over my despair, and will reconcile me to_the most hideous aspect of death . it_is evident that we_are hurrying onwards to some exciting knowledge -- some never- to- be- imparted secret, whose attainment is destruction . perhaps this current leads us to_the southern pole itself . it must_be confessed that a supposition apparently so wild has every probability in its favor .

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the crew pace the deck with unquiet and tremulous step; but there_is upon their countenances an expression more of_the eagerness of hope than of_the apathy of despair .

in_the meantime the wind is still in_our poop, and, as_we carry a crowd of canvas, the ship is at times lifted bodily from out the sea -- Oh, horror upon horror ! the ice opens suddenly to_the right, and to_the left, and we_are whirling dizzily, in immense concentric circles, round and round the borders of a gigantic amphitheatre, the summit of whose walls is lost in_the darkness and_the distance . but little time will_be left me to ponder upon my destiny -- the circles rapidly grow small -- we_are plunging madly within_the grasp of_the whirlpool -- and amid aroaring, and bellowing, and thundering of ocean and of tempest, the ship is quivering, oh god ! and -- going down .

note .-- the " MS . found in a bottle," was originally published in 1831, and it_was not until many years afterwards that I became acquainted with_the maps of Mercator, in_which_the ocean is represented as rushing, by four mouths, into_the ( northern) polar gulf, to_be absorbed into_the bowels of_the earth; the pole itself being represented by a black rock, towering to a prodigious height .

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