By BC Cook
For Variety
SOME of the greatest poetry ever written was inspired by the sea. One thinks of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and the epic “Ulysses.” The ocean is not only a stage for heroics but for tragedy and dilemma. Cicero struggled to understand the principle of justice at sea in his famous “Ownership of a Plank” problem: a ship sinks and two people find themselves clinging to the same plank of wood. The plank is not big enough to support both of them so who should let go? The older one? The one with no children? The one with less education? What if one of them was the owner of the boat and thus technically the owner of the plank?
Sailing the sea presents many situations that force us to reveal our inner selves. It has been said that to really understand someone you must see them under stress. Crisis reveals character. The following is a poem entitled “The Ship in Distress.” It relates a very common crisis of sailors in the age of sail. The ship is damaged and drifting until the food and water run out. Starvation sets in and a choice must be made.
You seamen bold who plough the ocean
See dangers landsmen never know.
It is not for honor or promotion;
No tongue can tell what they undergo.
In the blusterous wind and the great dark water
Our ship went drifting on the sea,
Her rigging gone, and her rudder broken,
Which brought us to extremity.
For fourteen days, heartsore and hungry,
Seeing but wild water and bitter sky,
Poor fellows all stood in a totter,
Casting lots as to who should die.
Their lot it fell on Robert Jackson,
Whose family was so great.
“I’m willing to die, but oh, my comrades,
Let me keep look-out till the break of day.”
A full dressed ship like the sun a-glittering
Came bearing down to their relief.
As soon as this glad news was shouted,
It banished all their care and grief.
Our ship brought to, no longer drifting,
Safe in Saint Vincent, Cape Verde, she lay.
You seamen all who hear my story,
Pray you’ll never suffer the like again.
Although they are talking about cannibalism they cannot bring themselves to say the word. They suggest it and assume that the reader understands what they mean. They cast lots, a person is chosen, but is saved at the last minute by a passing ship. Yet each sailor must confront the fact that even though they did not have to go through with it, they were prepared to.
Who would you remove from Cicero’s plank?
Dr. BC Cook taught history for 30 years and is a director and Pacific historian at Sealark Exploration (sealarkexploration.org). He currently lives in Hawaii.
