Penny Dreadfuls, 1812 · page 134 of 258
Psyche, and other poems — page 134: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a running prose page (numbered 116) from what appears to be a narrative poem in a Victorian penny dreadful. The text describes a sea voyage: a character named Psyche departs from shore aboard a vessel with favorable weather and auspicious omens. The passage details the mariners seizing oars, streamers fluttering in the wind, and the ship swiftly departing while Psyche watches the shore recede. It then shifts to her emotional state during the voyage—she is pleased and hopeful, gazing at distant lands and listening to the rhythmic oars, while asking a "knight" companion whether they will reach the promised shore by morning. The verse employs classical references (Boreas, Favonius, Hymen) and romantic sensibility typical of the period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
116 Bright was the-prospect which before them shone ; Gay danced the sun-beams o’er the trembling waves : Who that the faithless ocean had not known, Which now the strand in placid whispers laves, Could e’er believe the rage with which it raves. When angry Boreas bids the storm arise, And calls his wild winds from their wintry caves? Now soft Favonius breathes his gentlest sighs, _ Auspicious omens wait, serenely smile the skies. _ a ~ * —— es ee re “sy The eager mariners now seize the oar, _ The streamers flutter in the favouring gale. _ Nor unattended did they leave the shore: Flymen, whose smiles shall o’er mischance prevail, Sits at the helm, or spreads the swelling sail : Swift through the parting waves the vessel flies, And now at distance scarce can Psyche hail The shore, so fast receding from her eyes, Or bless the snowy cliffs which o’er the coast arise. _. Pleased with her voyage and the novel scene, Hope’s vivid ray her cheerful heart expands : Delighted now she eyes the blue serene, ‘The purple hills, and distant rising lands, Or, when the sky the silver queen commands, In pleasing silence listens :to the oar Dashed by the frequent stroke of equal hands ; Or asks her knight if yet the promised shore May bless her longing eyes when morn shall lightrestore- Comichbooksscom