Introduction
Every night, so the Greek myths tell us, Leander left Abydos in Asia Minor and swam across the narrow Hellespont to his lover Hero, priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos in Thrace, the European side, until he was drowned in bad weather. On May 3rd, 1810, George Gordon Byron and his friend Lt William Ekenhead swam the same stretch of water in the other direction, from Europe to Asia.
‘MURRAY published a letter I wrote to him [said Byron] from Venice [in February 1821], which might have seemed an idle display of vanity; but the object of my writing it, was to contradict what Turner had asserted about the impossibility of crossing the Hellespont from the Abydos to the Sestos side, in consequence of the tide.*
‘The real width of the Hellespont is not much above a mile;* but the current is prodigiously strong, and we were carried down notwithstanding all our efforts. I don’t know how Leander contrived to stem the stream, and steer straight across; but nothing is impossible in love or religion. If I had had a Hero on the other side, perhaps I should have worked harder.*
‘We were to have undertaken this feat some time before, but put it off in consequence of the coldness of the water; and it was chilly enough when we performed it. I know I should have made a bad Leander, for it gave me an ague* that I did not so easily get rid of. There were some sailors in the fleet who swam further than I did — I do not say than I could have done, for it is the only exercise I pride myself upon, being almost amphibious.’
* Byron’s letter was written in February 1821. Diplomat William Turner (1792-1867) had tried to cap Byron’s stunt, and swim from Abydos to Sestos (i.e. Asia to Europe) but failed, and in A Tour of the Levant (1820) laboured to prove that the trip was much harder in that direction. The waters of the Hellespont are certainly treacherous: two major currents flow in opposite directions, a surface current from the Black Sea towards the Aegean, and an undercurrent from the Aegean to the Black Sea, and the captains even of large vessels must await the right moment to attempt to navigate the strait.
* Over its whole length, the strait’s width varies from around ¾ of a mile to 3¾ miles.
* Byron completed the trip in an hour and ten minutes. He recalled his historic swim with such pride that he managed to work it into his unfinished, satirical epic Don Juan (1819), at ii, cv:
He [Juan] could, perhaps, have pass’d the Hellespont,
As once (a feat on which ourselves we prided)
Leander, Mr Ekenhead, and I did.
* A fever. A clue to the pronunciation was given by Byron at the end of After Swimming the Hellespont, musing on any comparison with Leander:
’Twere hard to say who fared the best:
Sad mortals, thus the gods still plague you!
He lost his labour, I my jest;
For he was drowned, and I’ve the ague.
Précis
In 1810, poet George Byron and some friends among the crew of a British ship recreated the legendary crossing of the Hellespont by Leander. Nettled by claims it was harder to cross in the other direction, Byron recalled that the currents had been strong enough to sweep all the swimmers off course, though not too strong for him. (58 / 60 words)
In 1810, poet George Byron and some friends among the crew of a British ship recreated the legendary crossing of the Hellespont by Leander. Nettled by claims it was harder to cross in the other direction, Byron recalled that the currents had been strong enough to sweep all the swimmers off course, though not too strong for him.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, besides, if, or, ought, since, whether, who.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Letter. There. Which.
2 Exercise. Impossibility. Myself.
3 Consequence. If. Write.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Side. 2. Might. 3. Current. 4. Writing. 5. Exercise. 6. Display. 7. Consequence. 8. Object. 9. Cross.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding in-.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
t (13+3)
at. ate. auto. eat. iota. it. out. tea. tee. tie. to. toe. too.
oat. ta. ti.
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