The Sea

"The sea is the consolation of this our day, as it has been the consolation of the centuries. It is the companion and the receiver of men. It has moods for them to fill the storehouse of the mind, perils for trial, or even for an ending, and calms for the good emblem of death. There, on the sea, is a man nearest to his own making, and in communion with that from which he came, and to which he will return. For the wise men of very long ago have said, and it is true, that out of the salt water all things came. The sea is the matrix of creation, and we have the memory of it in our blood.

But far more than this is there in the sea. It presents, upon the greatest scale we mortals can bear, those not mortal powers that brought us into being. It is not only the symbol or mirror, but especially it is the messenger of the Divine. There, sailing the sea, we play every part of life: control direction, effort, fate; and there we can test ourselves and know our state. The sea shall comfort us, and perpetually show us new things and assure us".

From 'The Cruise of the Nona' by Hilaire Belloc, 1925