All men owe honor to the poets—honor and awe for they are dearest to the Muse who puts upon their lips the ways of life.
—Homer, The Odyssey, book 8
I WOULD LIKE TO dedicate this final edition of A Sea of Words to Patrick O’Brian (1914-2000), creator of the Aubrey-Maturin novel series. I have added many new entries for The Hundred Days (HarperCollins, U.K.; W. W. Norton, U.S.A., 1998) and Blue at the Mizzen (1999). It is for the better understanding and enjoyment of O’Brian’s magnificent epic of the Royal Navy during the age of Napoleon that I wrote this book and Harbors and High Seas.
Macte Virtute, Patrick O’Brian.