midday
There is no life in thee , now , except that rocking life imparted by a gently rolling ship ; by her , borrowed from the sea ; by the sea , from the inscrutable tides of God . But while this sleep , this dream is on ye , move your foot or hand an inch ; slip your hold at all ; and your identity comes back in horror . Over Descartian vortices you hover . And perhaps , at midday , in the fairest weather , with one half-throttled shriek you drop through that transparent air into the summer sea , no more to rise for ever . Heed it well , ye Pantheists ! The Quarter-Deck -LRB- Enter Ahab : Then , all -RRB- It was not a great while after the affair of the pipe , that one morning shortly after breakfast , Ahab , as was his wont , ascended the cabin-gangway to the deck . There most sea-captains usually walk at that hour , as country gentlemen , after the same meal , take a few turns in the garden .