He stands at the bow of the ship, his whale-bone leg resting firmly in its hole, and watches the men at work. One young sailor seems particularly happy this day, whistling a merry tune as he walks the deck. He must be one of those romantics, the captain thinks; one of those men who sees sailing as an adventure, who thrills at the thought of waves and surf, who dreams of far-away ports and exotic lands, for whom "the great flood-gates of the wonder-world [had] swung open"; and there he was, cheerfully doing his work while the captain, their fearless leader known for being "desperate moody, and savage sometimes", glowered at them over the railing "with a crucifixion in his face." He hears the songs, the excited cries of the sailors, but he cannot understand their happiness. To himself, he mutters, "All loveliness is anguish to me, since I can ne'er enjoy. Gifted with the high perception, I lack the low, enjoying power; damned, most subtly and most malignantly! damned in the midst of Paradise!" What the captain wants, what would truly make him happy—the Whale!—consumes his every thought, his every waking and sleeping moment, this single "unachieved revengeful desire." And so he watched his crew, sees their joy, their complete happiness in their toil; he observes the fulfillment of their pedestrian wants, until he can no longer stand it. His voice cracking, his shaking finger pointing at the young man he first noticed, the words spewing from his lips: "Thou art too damned jolly!"
* All quotes from Herman Melville's Moby Dick.
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