First and Last

by Hilaire BELLOC (1870 - 1953)

Chapter 18 Jose Maria de Heredia

First and Last

“When a man weighs anchor in a little ship or a large one he does a jolly thing! He cuts himself off and he starts for freedom and for the chance of things. He pulls the jib a-weather, he leans to her slowly pulling round, he sees the wind getting into the mainsail, and he feels that she feels the helm. He has her on a slant of the wind, and he makes out between the harbour piers.” (quotation from Hilaire Belloc)


Listen next episodes of First and Last:
Chapter 19 Normandy and the Normans , Chapter 20 The Old Things , Chapter 21 The Battle of Hastings , Chapter 22 The Roman Roads in Picardy , Chapter 23 The Reward of Letters , Chapter 24 The Eye-Openers , Chapter 25 The Public , Chapter 26 On Entries , Chapter 27 Companions of Travel , Chapter 28 On the Sources of Rivers , Chapter 29 On Error , Chapter 30 The Great Sight , Chapter 31 The Decline of a State , Chapter 32 On Past Greatness , Chapter 33 Mr. The Duke: The Man of Malplaquet , Chapter 34 The Game of Cards , Chapter 35 "King Lear" , Chapter 36 The Excursion , Chapter 37 The Tide , Chapter 38 On a Great Wind , Chapter 39 The Letter , Chapter 40 The Regret , Chapter 41 The End of the World