Poetry · Chapter
The Lost Colonel explained
A sailor recounts the woeful tale of a passenger known as 'The Colonel' aboard the schooner Henery Jo.
What happens
A sailor recounts the woeful tale of a passenger known as 'The Colonel' aboard the schooner Henery Jo. Despite the wild waves, the Colonel remains calm, drinking from a bottle labeled 'Total Eclipse' and joking about the dryness of the sailor's life. When he accidentally falls overboard, the crew launches boats to rescue him, but he is found an hour later in a yawl, dead of thirst.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and Regret
The Colonel's ironic death by thirst after falling into a lake underscores the theme of mortality and the regretful twist of fate.
Deception and Self-Deception
The Colonel's calm demeanor and jokes about dryness mask the danger he faces, reflecting self-deception about his own vulnerability.
Characters to notice
- The Lost Colonel
A gallant passenger aboard the Henery Jo, known as 'Colonel,' who remains calm during the storm and jokes about the dryness of life, only to die of thirst after falling overboard.
- Unknown
The listener who eagerly asks the sailor to continue the tale, expressing a burning desire to know the worst.
Key passages
“He was a soldier chap—leastways As ‘Colonel’ he was knew; An’ he hailed from some’rs where they raise A grass that’s heavenly blue.”
He was a military man, or at least known as 'Colonel,' and came from a place where the grass is a heavenly shade of blue.
The sailor introduces the Colonel's background, hinting at a possibly idealized or mythical origin.
“What! him? ’Twas an hour afore he was found— In the yawl—stone dead o’ thirst!”
What, that man? He was found an hour later in the small boat, dead from thirst.
The ironic twist: the Colonel, who joked about dryness, dies of thirst despite being surrounded by water.