The Life-Buoy-Coffin
As Ahab glides away from the dejected Delight, a strange object aboard the Pequod comes into conspicuous relief: the life-buoy-coffin that has been mentioned earlier, now swinging lightly at the ship’s stern. This dual-purpose object, serving as both emergency flotation device and provisional burial container, symbolizes the interconnectedness of life, death, and the sea that defines the whaling life. Its conspicuous position at the stern suggests the ever-present proximity of mortality.
The Foreboding Voice
A disembodied voice calls out from behind the departing Pequod, crying “Ha! yonder! look yonder, men!” with ominous prescience. The voice delivers a cryptic warning: “In vain, oh, ye strangers, ye fly our sad burial; ye but turn us your taffrail to show us your coffin!” This prophecy suggests that the Pequod’s escape is futile—that the vessel itself will become a coffin, and that the Delight’s fate awaits any ship that pursues the White Whale. The foreboding pronouncement binds both ships in shared destiny.
KAPITEL 132. The Symphony.
The chapter opens with a description of a clear steel-blue day where the firmaments of air and sea merge into an all-pervading azure. The atmosphere is described as having a woman’s gentle look while the sea heaves with Samson-like strength.
The Azure Day
A clear steel-blue day where the firmaments of air and sea are barely separable. The pensive air is transparently pure and soft, contrasting with the robust and man-like sea that heaves with long, strong, lingering swells.
The Feminine Air
Above, small unspeckled birds glide gracefully on white wings—described as gentle thoughts of the feminine air. Meanwhile, beneath in the depths, mighty leviathans, sword-fish, and sharks rush about—representing the strong, troubled, murderous thinkings of the masculine sea. Though contrasting, the two seem one, distinguished only by sex.
Sun and Sea
Aloft, the sun appears like a royal czar giving the gentle air to the bold rolling sea, like bride to groom. At the horizon’s girdling line, a soft tremulous motion denotes the fond, throbbing trust and loving alarms with which the bride gives her bosom away.
Untottering Ahab
Ahab stands forth on the deck in the clearness of morning, tied up and twisted with wrinkles, gnarled and knotted. He is haggardly firm and unyielding, his eyes glowing like coals that still glow in the ashes of ruin, lifting his splintered helmet of a brow to heaven.
The Innocency of the Azure
The chapter reflects on the immortal infancy and innocency of the azure, with invisible winged creatures frolicing around. This sweet childhood of air and sky remains oblivious to Ahab’s close-coiled woe, just as children might laugh around their aged father.
Ahab’s Tear
Ahab leans over the ship’s side, watching his shadow sink deeper into the water. The lovely aromas in the enchanted air seem to dispel for a moment the cankerous thing in his soul. The glad, happy air and winsome sky stroke and caress him. From beneath his slouched hat, Ahab drops a tear into the sea—wealth beyond all the Pacific.
Starbuck Observes
Starbuck sees the old man heavily leaning over the side. He seems to hear the measureless sobbing stealing out of the serenity around. Careful not to touch or be noticed by Ahab, Starbuck draws near and stands there watching.
Forty Years
Ahab begins an extensive monologue recalling when he struck his first whale as an eighteen-year-old boy-harpooneer. He describes forty years of continual whaling, privation, peril, and storm-time on the pitiless sea. He speaks of the desolation of solitude, the loneliness of command, and how he has spent only three years ashore in all that time. He reflects on his young wife whom he left on his wedding day, and the madness with which he has chased his prey for decades.
Starbuck’s Plea
Starbuck pleads with Ahab to abandon the chase and return home to Nantucket, where his own wife and child await. He describes the cheerful journey home and tries to convince Ahab they can still turn back.
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