The 99 Poem Challenge
Fox-Trot-9

99. Epic — The Flying Dutchman
Canto 3 — The Invocation

As night wanes on, I made my solitary
Way up the stairs with shadows chasing me
Along, as though the breath of night were at
My heels and rushing me towards a most
Uncertain fate. The tread beneath my steps
Grew wild and eerie, like the dying voices
Of all the grim and tortured souls of saints
And martyrs that had died by Nero's lyre; *
The shadows crept and overtook me 'neath
Their shades, while gloomy thoughts about them danced                         (10)
And leered within the doldrums of the night,
Leered with the brutal certainty of death,
The very death that tossed and turned the ship
Upon the waves, the leering death that set
Its evil eyes upon my dearest love.
So past the heavy chamber door, I swung
It shut to barricade those horrors from
My eyes and ears and liberate my thoughts;
Silence and nothing further. Back I leaned
Against the door and slid unto the floor,                        (20)
The pounding of my heart relenting then
And only then; all quiet, nothing more.

And so I gazed around and took the scene
Of desolation in. The walls from left to right
Were flooded with those dismal shades and shadows,
A kingdom of the night incased inside
Four walls; the shutter o'er the window sill
Let in the moonlit night outside and threw
Revolting streaks of light upon the tiles
Of floor beside my feet and on the tufts                         (30)
And cushions of the bedsheets by the window,
While o'er the rug were shadows stretching out
And clinging to the hems upon my dress.
The wardrobe to my left, enrobed in darkness,
Stood there imposing like a castle's keep;
Turning away from this, I soon beheld
Beside the vanity and mirror on
The wall the awful portrait of my love,
His image drowned in shadow with a most
Repulsive streak of light across his face.                         (40)
And at that very instant, chills of fear
Stabbed at my heart and almost made me swoon.

But then I steeled my nerves and crawled towards
The bed and slipped inside the cushioned sheets.
Amid these things around me with my thoughts,
I here began to supplicate my plea:
"Of that ill-fated voyage from the docks
And to the moment on the storm-tossed sea
That floundered ship and crew on their return,
Sing, Muse, that on this night's uncertain flight                         (50)
I may gain solace from your revelations;
For you, whose endless ken sees past the doubts
That plague the mind and heart of man and woman,
You upon that infernal night was there
To witness such a tragedy of fate!
But say, oh Muse, so that my soul can weather
This storm with clearest conscience, what befell
The captain of the ship? What caused the gods
Of sky and sea to keep him from the shore?"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

His pride condemned his fate to sail                         (60)
Forever on the seas! But pride itself
Cannot reveal the crashing inner waves
That roll across the soul, as it describes
Only a part of that which eyes can see,
And that which ears can hear, and that which minds
Can know, and that which hearts can feel. It started
With good and great and even best intentions
To bring about the best in human deeds
By bringing out the best within himself;
So with these thoughts in mind and feelings in                         (70)
His heart, the gallant captain of the ship
Embarked upon his voyage with the dawn's
Undying light against his back. With billows
Of trade winds from the north to fill the sails,
They sailed full speed ahead towards the west
On past the Dover Strait, where age-old cliffs **
O'erlooked the endless ebb and roll of sea.

But Captain Vander Fokke was not alone
In his long trip to Asia, for he led
A scouting convoy with the aim to reap                         (80)
The riches of the Indonesian Coast.
Indeed, he was not new unto the months
Of toil to reach that fabled coast, for years
He spent along the main with all the speed ***
His sails could muster on each blast of wind,
Beating out rival captains with their ships
Who dared to match the speed of so esteemed
And feared a captain. Such is Fokke's unrivaled
Speed that some superstitious sailors say
He sold his soul unto the Devil for                         (90)
So fast a carrack called Pandora's Hope. ****
So with the Devil's speed embodied in
His ship, and with da Gama's legendary *****
Courage, the famous Captain Fokke traversed
The wind-swept waters in a fleet of three
Comprising of the Perseverance, sailed
By fellow Captain Helic van Rijin,
And Old Saint George, now captained by the young
And inexperienced Rudolph Zeppeline.

These two Fokke far exceeded in all haste,                         (100)
Expanding on his spreading lead by adding
More leagues behind, the bow and hardened keel
Clipping across the rolling waves that sent
Sprays from each wave onto the sweaty backs
Of toiling men. The ship persisted, catching
Each pregnant breath of wind upon her sails,
Into the evening watch when toiling deckhands
Have earned their nightly rest beneath the deck,
Save for those few who keep the shifting watch
At night after the ship has hoisted sail.                         (110)

Now Captain Fokke and his first mate took up
The first and middle watch before retiring
To bunk for slumber, when a trusted deckhand
Is charged to keep the morning watch till eight.
The captain had completed first night watch
And was about to head to bunk, when his
First mate detained him for a bit to talk.

He said, "Dear Captain, hold for just a moment."
And when the captain held his place, he said,
"When we complete our final round upon                         (120)
The Indonesian main, when all our wits
And exploits are exhausted on the keel
Of weary time, where will we go from here?"

The captain said, "We'll go our separate ways,
You to your captaincy upon a stout
Ship of you own, and I to bed my love
When I return to wed her on the altar.
Ah, do not be crestfallen, Balentine,
For you beneath my charge have far out-grown
The boyhood coil that lingers on you still;                         (130)
Chin up, my man! This endless main awaits
You when I've shuffled off my captain's clothes.
But mind, you! Even when I go to wife
And home, perhaps take up another knock
Upon a naval seat in admiralty,
Should you request an honest man to guide
You on the way to seas uncharted still
By mortal men, I'll be that honest man."

The first mate, Hendrick Balentine, took up
His captain's oath with his salute and smile,                         (140)
Saying, "Perhaps there's come a day when I
Might call upon you sooner than you think.
Good night, sir. May you have a peaceful rest."

And so the two exchanged salutes, and Captain
Fokke now departed from his trusted mate
Upon the bridge and entered through the cabin
Door at the stern and met the navigator,
Solomon Alkahest, still reckoning
The maps and charts to gauge their rightful course.

The navigator looked upon the captain                         (150)
And said, "Upon my word, I'll go to sleep
Once I have charted out our latest course
Before tomorrow catches us unaware."

"It seems to me," the captain then replied,
"Tomorrow could be sooner than you think
With you still pouring o'er those charts all night.
It's best to get what rest you can afford
Out on these waters when the going's good
And calm. There may be yet some distant squall
Out there beyond tonight's relaxed horizon."                         (160)

"Duly noted," he said, before proceeding
To chart the final stretch of sea before
It rounds the Cape in its predestined route
Through eldritch waters and the realms beyond.

And so the captain heads to his own bunk
To rest the lulling night away, when deep
Inside his heart he cannot quell the pall
That lurks beneath his nerves, and in his slumber
His dreams fill up an ocean full of fears,
Like eldritch wine's intoxicating hold                         (170)
Over his inner visions through sea fog
And the remains of ghost ships in the doldrums!

* * * * * * *

Meanwhile, the first Mate, Balentine, continues
His watch upon the bridge for just about
An hour in silence, when beyond the far
Horizon gleams a fairy glow upon
The gentle waters. * * * * * * *

(To be continued...)

A/N: Okay, I'm not sure if I'm gonna finish this canto... Heck, I KNOW I'm not gonna finish this epic... It's REALLY big for me, far too big for me to finish it... I'm just gonna let this canto be and let other people ponder how this might continue...

* Emperor Nero = (n.) (32-68 A.D.) The last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He is infamous for playing his lyre while Rome burned and blaming it on the early Christians.
** Dover Strait = (n.) The strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel.
*** Main = (n.) Poetic name for the sea.
**** Carrack = (n.) A 3-4 masted ship developed in the 15th century, which was widely used by many European maritime powers.
***** Vasco da Gama = (n.) (1460-1524) A Count of Vidigueiran and one of the most successful Portuguese explorers in the Age of Discovery, commanding of the first convoy of ships to sail directly from Europe around the Cape of Good Hope to India.

Meter: Iambic pentameter
Rhyme: Blank verse