Christmas at Sea

Robert Louis Stevenson telescopes the distance between a cozy Christmas scene and a life-and-death struggle on the high seas Snowstorm. While Queen Victoria’s reign saw the steady rise of steam-powered ships, sailing vessels only slowly became obsolete, and ships often used a combination of steam and sail. Stevenson had very likely experienced first-hand, if only as a passenger, the drama of “Christmas at Sea.” The poem first appeared in the Scots Observer in 1888,,, The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand; The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand; The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea; And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee. >click to read< 12:33

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.