Toilers of the Sea
To gaze into the depths
of the sea is,
in the imagination,
like beholding
the vast unknown,
and from its most
terrible point of view.
The submarine gulf
is analogous
to the realm
of night and dreams.
There also is sleep,
unconsciousness,
or at least
apparent unconsciousness,
of creation.
Les Travailleurs de la Mer
— Victor Hugo