The Nigger of the "Narcissus". A Tale of the SeaStriking character portrayals of a Negro seaman and other members of the crew of a sailing ship on a return trip from India to England. |
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Common terms and phrases
Able seaman ain't aloft amongst Archie arms asked Baker began Belfast bloomin boatswain breath bunk cabin Captain Allistoun chap Charley chest chief mate cold cook crawled Creighton cried crowd dark deck Donkin door dunnage eyes face feet fo'c'sle forecastle foresail forward galley gaze glance groaned growled grunted hands hard head heard hearts heavy hung James Wait Jimmy Jimmy's JOSEPH CONRAD Knowles leaped legs light lips looked loud master mate moved murmur muttered Narcissus nigger night noise oilskin Ough overboard planks poop rolled rope round rush sailmaker sails seaman seemed seez shadows ship ship's shook shoulder shouted side sighed silence Singleton sleep smile spoke stared stir stood stream sudden suddenly sunshine swung thing thought tobacco smoke tone turbed turned voice Wamibo watch waves whispered wind words yelled
Popular passages
Page xi - A WORK that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect.
Page xii - ... the subtle but invincible conviction of solidarity that knits together the loneliness of innumerable hearts, to the solidarity in dreams, in joy, in sorrow, in aspirations, in illusions, in hope, in fear, which binds men to each other...
Page 29 - The passage had begun, and the ship, a fragment detached from the earth, went on lonely and swift like a small planet. Round her the abysses of sky and sea met in an unattainable frontier. A great circular solitude moved with her, ever changing and ever the same, always monotonous and always imposing.
Page xiv - My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel — it is, before all, to make you see...
Page 90 - ON men reprieved by its disdainful mercy, the immortal sea confers in its justice the full privilege of desired unrest. Through the perfect wisdom of its grace they are not permitted to meditate at ease upon the complicated and acrid savour of existence...
Page xv - And thus, doubtful of strength to travel so far, we talk a little about the aim — the aim of art, which, like life itself, is inspiring, difficult — obscured by mists. It is not in the clear logic of a triumphant conclusion; it is not in the unveiling of one of those heartless secrets which are called the Laws of Nature.
Page xiii - It must strenuously aspire to the plasticity! of sculpture, to the colour of painting, and to the magic suggestiveness of music — which is the art of arts.
Page 163 - The dark land lay alone in the midst of waters, like a mighty ship bestarred with vigilant lights — a ship carrying the burden of millions of lives — a ship freighted with dross and with jewels, with gold and with steel. She towered up immense and strong, guarding priceless traditions and untold suffering, sheltering glorious memories and base forgetfulness, ignoble virtues and splendid transgressions. A great ship! For ages had the ocean battered in vain her enduring sides; she was there when...
Page 24 - ... into this place as quiet as a sepulchre to contemplate with patient eyes the short victory of sleep, the consoler. Yet he was only a child of time, a lonely relic of a devoured and forgotten generation. He stood, still strong, as ever unthinking; a ready man with a vast empty past and with no future,1 with his childlike impulses and his man's passions already dead within his tattooed breast.
Page xi - And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect. It is an attempt to find in its forms, in its colours, in its light, in its shadows, in the aspects of matter, and in the facts of life what of each is fundamental, what is enduring and essential — their one illuminating and convincing quality — the very truth of their existence. The artist, then,...