There was a king named midas, and what he loved best in the world was gold. he had plenty of his own, but he could not bear the thought of anyone else having any. each morning he awoke very early to watch the sunrise and said, "of all the gods, if gods there be, i like you least, apollo. how dare you ride so unthriftily in your sun-chariot, scattering golden sheaves of light on rich and poor alike—on king and peasant, on merchant, shepherd, warrior? this is an evil thing, oh wastrel god, for only kings should have gold; only the rich know what to do with it."

first of all the mood needs to be defined: it is obviously a mood of deceitful relief and serenity. why? because the cape horn is one of the most violent maritime regions of earth and although it has been left behind, it is a personification of ahab’s delirium and the fact that the end of the passage speaks about it about being “hidden” but “raving” immediately conveys the feeling the calm is not permanent but fleeting.

furthermore, the oxymoron “mild stun'sails” is the first instance of such feeling as the adjective “mild” is associated with “stunned” underscoring the fleeting nature of this “tranquil” moment. and the contrasts keep piling up, with the opposition between “dark den” and “blessed light and air” to end with the final conclusion that leaves the reader with the uneasy knowledge that this is just a reprieve.

this is hard!