The Candles — Moby-Dick

Warm places can hide the cruelest storms. In the bright Japanese seas a typhoon can burst from a cloudless sky like a bomb on a sleepy town. That evening the typhoon tore the Pequod's canvas away and left her bare-poled, fighting directly into the wind. Thunder and lightning split the dark sky and showed the ruined masts in rags. Starbuck watched from the quarter-deck. Stubb and Flask tried to lash the boats higher, but a huge wave stove in the bottom of Ahab's windward boat right where Ahab usually stands.

Stubb sang a silly song to keep his courage up until Starbuck stopped him. Starbuck showed that the gale came from the east, the same course Ahab had steered at noon toward Moby Dick. Starbuck wanted to turn homeward on the safer side of the storm. Corpusants, or Saint Elmo's fire, lit the yard-arms and masts like pale wax candles. The crew stood frozen and glowing in the strange light. Queequeg's tattoos burned blue on his skin.

Ahab told the men the white flame pointed the way to the White Whale. He took lightning rod links in his hand and put his foot on Fedallah at the mainmast. He preached defiance to the fire spirit in a long wild speech. Then the leather sheath fell off his harpoon and pale forked fire ran along the steel barb. Starbuck grabbed his arm and begged him to turn back home. The crew almost mutinied to square the yards homeward. Ahab waved the burning harpoon and swore to kill anyone who loosened a rope. Then he blew out the flame with one breath. Many sailors ran from him in terror.