Maximum-assistance view: every word above everyday vocabulary is explained at every appearance; each name is introduced at its first appearance in the chapter.

Letter 2

To Mrs. Saville (Mrs Margaret Saville, Walton's sister in England, to whom he writes), England.

Archangel, 28th March, 17—.

How slowly the time passes here, encompassed (to surround) as I am by frost (frozen dew) and snow! Yet a second step is taken towards my enterprise (a bold undertaking). I have hired (to engage for pay) a vessel (a container; a ship) and am occupied (to hold; to fill) in collecting (to gather) my sailors (a seaman); those whom I have already engaged (to bind; to begin battle) appear to be men on whom I can depend (to rest upon) and are certainly possessed (to own; to hold) of dauntless (fearless) courage (bravery).

But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy (to content; to meet a need), and the absence (being away) of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil, I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing (a soft warm light) with the enthusiasm (burning eagerness) of success, there will be none to participate (to take part) my joy; if I am assailed (to attack) by disappointment (a failed hope), no one will endeavour (to try hard) to sustain (to hold up; to suffer) me in dejection (low spirits). I shall commit (to do; to entrust) my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathise (sympathised: felt with another) with me, whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem (to judge; consider) me romantic (of love and adventure), my dear sister, but I bitterly (with bitterness) feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle (mild and kind) yet courageous (brave), possessed (to own; to hold) of a cultivated (to till the soil; to nurture) as well as of a capacious (roomy; holding much) mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve (to judge well of) or amend (to put right) my plans. How would such a friend repair (to mend) the faults of your poor brother! I am too ardent (burning with eagerness) in execution (carrying out; putting to death) and too impatient (restlessly eager) of difficulties (hardness; trouble). But it is a still greater evil to me that I am self-educated (taught by oneself): for the first fourteen (fourteen) years of my life I ran wild on a common and read nothing but our Uncle Thomas’ books of voyages (a journey). At that age I became acquainted (knowing; familiar with) with the celebrated (famous) poets (a maker of poems) of our own country; but it was only when it had ceased (to stop) to be in my power to derive (to draw from a source) its most important benefits from such a conviction (settled belief; a finding of guilt) that I perceived (to see and grasp) the necessity (unavoidable need) of becoming acquainted (knowing; familiar with) with more languages than that of my native country. Now I am twenty-eight (twenty-eight) and am in reality more illiterate (unable to read) than many schoolboys (a boy at school) of fifteen (fifteen). It is true that I have thought more and that my daydreams (a waking dream) are more extended and magnificent (grandly splendid), but they want (as the painters (one who paints) call it) keeping; and I greatly (to a great degree) need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise (to look down on with contempt) me as romantic (of love and adventure), and affection (warm love) enough for me to endeavour (to try hard) to regulate (to order by rule) my mind.

Well, these are useless (of no use) complaints (a voiced discontent); I shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean, nor even here in Archangel, among merchants (a trader) and seamen (a sailor). Yet some feelings, unallied (unallied: unconnected) to the dross (the waste in metal; the base part) of human nature, beat even in these rugged (rough and strong) bosoms (the breast). My lieutenant (the officer below captain), for instance, is a man of wonderful courage (bravery) and enterprise (a bold undertaking); he is madly (like a madman) desirous (wishing) of glory (shining honor), or rather, to word my phrase (a group of words) more characteristically (true to character), of advancement (forward progress) in his profession (one's declared calling). He is an Englishman, and in the midst (the middle) of national and professional prejudices (judgment made beforehand), unsoftened (unsoftened: not made gentle) by cultivation (refinement by training), retains (to keep) some of the noblest (high-born; morally lofty) endowments (endowments: natural gifts) of humanity (mankind; human kindness). I first became acquainted (knowing; familiar with) with him on board a whale (the great sea animal) vessel (a container; a ship); finding that he was unemployed (without work) in this city, I easily engaged (to bind; to begin battle) him to assist (to help) in my enterprise (a bold undertaking).

The master is a person of an excellent disposition (temper of mind; battle arrangement) and is remarkable (worthy of note) in the ship for his gentleness (mild kindness) and the mildness (gentle mildness) of his discipline (trained order). This circumstance (a surrounding fact or condition), added to his well-known integrity (honesty and uprightness) and dauntless (fearless) courage (bravery), made me very desirous (wishing) to engage (to bind; to begin battle) him. A youth passed in solitude (being alone), my best years spent under your gentle (mild and kind) and feminine (of women) fosterage (the nurturing of a child), has so refined (to make finer) the groundwork (the foundation) of my character that I cannot overcome (to conquer; overpowered) an intense (at high pitch) distaste (dislike) to the usual brutality (cruelty) exercised on board ship: I have never believed it to be necessary, and when I heard of a mariner (a sailor) equally (in equal measure) noted for his kindliness (gentle kindness) of heart and the respect and obedience (doing as ordered) paid to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly (especially; strangely) fortunate (favored by fortune) in being able to secure his services. I heard of him first in rather a romantic (of love and adventure) manner, from a lady who owes (to be in debt for) to him the happiness (the state of joy) of her life. This, briefly (in few words), is his story. Some years ago he loved a young Russian lady of moderate (keeping the middle way) fortune (wealth; luck), and having amassed (amassed: heaped up) a considerable (fairly large) sum (an amount of money; a total) in prize-money (prize-money: a share of the value of a captured ship), the father of the girl consented (agreement given) to the match. He saw his mistress (the lady of the house; a kept woman) once before the destined (fixed by fate) ceremony (a formal rite); but she was bathed (a washing in water) in tears (a drop of weeping; to rip), and throwing herself at his feet, entreated (to beg earnestly) him to spare (to hold back from harming; extra) her, confessing (to own up; to make confession) at the same time that she loved another, but that he was poor, and that her father would never consent (agreement given) to the union. My generous (free in giving) friend reassured (to give back confidence) the suppliant (one who begs humbly), and on being informed (to give knowledge to) of the name of her lover (one who loves), instantly (at once) abandoned (to leave behind for good) his pursuit (a chasing after). He had already bought a farm with his money, on which he had designed to pass the remainder (what is left) of his life; but he bestowed (given as a gift) the whole on his rival (one striving for the same prize), together with the remains of his prize-money (prize-money: a share of the value of a captured ship) to purchase stock, and then himself solicited (a lawyer of family business) the young woman’s father to consent (agreement given) to her marriage with her lover (one who loves). But the old man decidedly (without doubt) refused, thinking himself bound (to tie fast) in honour (honor) to my friend, who, when he found the father inexorable (never to be turned aside), quitted his country, nor returned until he heard that his former mistress (the lady of the house; a kept woman) was married according to her inclinations (a leaning toward; liking). “What a noble (high-born; morally lofty) fellow!” you will exclaim (to cry out). He is so; but then he is wholly (completely) uneducated (without schooling): he is as silent (making no sound) as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant (without knowledge) carelessness (lack of care) attends him, which, while it renders (to give; to make) his conduct the more astonishing (greatly surprising), detracts (detracts: takes away) from the interest (interest: the spectacle that draws a crowd — the old sense here) and sympathy (fellow-feeling) which otherwise he would command.

Yet do not suppose, because I complain (to voice discontent) a little or because I can conceive (to form in the mind) a consolation (comfort in sorrow) for my toils (dress; ladies' finery) which I may never know, that I am wavering (to sway in doubt) in my resolutions. Those are as fixed as fate (the appointed lot), and my voyage (a journey) is only now delayed (to put off) until the weather shall permit (to allow) my embarkation (going aboard ship). The winter has been dreadfully (terribly) severe, but the spring promises well, and it is considered as a remarkably (notably) early season, so that perhaps I may sail (the wind-catching sheet; to travel by ship) sooner than I expected. I shall do nothing rashly (without thinking of the danger): you know me sufficiently (enough) to confide (to trust with a secret) in my prudence (careful good sense) and considerateness (thoughtful care) whenever the safety of others is committed (to do; to entrust) to my care.

I cannot describe to you my sensations (a feeling; a public stir) on the near prospect (the view ahead) of my undertaking (a task taken on). It is impossible to communicate (to make known to) to you a conception (an idea; a grasping in mind) of the trembling (shaking finely) sensation (a feeling; a public stir), half pleasurable (giving pleasure) and half fearful (full of fear; dreadful), with which I am preparing to depart (to go away). I am going to unexplored (never explored) regions, to “the land of mist (thin fog) and snow,” but I shall kill no albatross (a great white sea-bird); therefore do not be alarmed (frightened) for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn (used to wearing out) and woeful (full of woe) as the “Ancient Mariner (Coleridge's poem of a cursed sailor).” You will smile at my allusion (an indirect reference), but I will disclose (to reveal) a secret. I have often attributed (a quality belonging to) my attachment (warm devotion) to, my passionate (full of burning feeling) enthusiasm (burning eagerness) for, the dangerous mysteries (a hidden truth) of ocean to that production of the most imaginative (full of imagination) of modern poets (a maker of poems). There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand. I am practically (in practice; almost) industrious (hard-working)—painstaking (with careful labor), a workman (a laboring man) to execute (to carry out; to put to death) with perseverance (steady keeping on) and labour—but besides this there is a love for the marvellous (wonderful), a belief (what one holds true) in the marvellous (wonderful), intertwined (intertwined: twisted together) in all my projects, which hurries (to move with haste) me out of the common pathways (a path) of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited (never visited) regions I am about to explore (to search through unknown ground).

But to return to dearer (more dear) considerations (careful thought; regard). Shall I meet you again, after having traversed (to cross over) immense (vastly great) seas, and returned by the most southern cape (a sleeveless cloak) of Africa or America? I dare (to have the courage) not expect such success, yet I cannot bear to look on the reverse (the opposite; a defeat) of the picture. Continue for the present to write to me by every opportunity: I may receive your letters on some occasions (a particular time; cause) when I need them most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly (with tender love). Remember me with affection (warm love), should you never hear from me again.

Your affectionate (full of warm love) brother, Robert Walton