The notorious white whale of Melville roams unconquered through so many daunting American Lit syllabi because the tales of sailors shrink the globe as their tellings spread.
Reynold's description of a whaleship as a floating volcano captures a waking dream that lulls the imagination into the cradle of the sea from which all life emerged.
Mocha Dick: Or The White Whale of the Pacific: A Leaf from a Manuscript Journal
http://www.melville.org/reynolds.htm