{"id":"01KG8AJVX0XMWHC0YAGTD0M322","cid":"bafkreicu3f6euqnccdodicpencchq5iytroz5mowwjoldncjfhbgr2zzfy","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# CHAPTER LXXXI. HOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA.\n## Overview\nThis is a chapter from the novel [White-Jacket](arke:01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ) by Herman Melville, titled \"CHAPTER LXXXI. HOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA.\" It describes the burial at sea of a man-of-war sailor named Shenly. The chapter spans lines 13075-13114 of the source file, `white_jacket.txt`.\n\n## Context\nThis chapter is part of the larger work, [White-Jacket](arke:01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ), which is included in the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It is preceded by [CHAPTER LXXX. THE LAST STITCH.](arke:01KG8AJVA0FZM38W2EYZDE9FV8) and followed by [CHAPTER LXXXII. WHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA.](arke:01KG8AJVWWVDQ6QHE55RMVH5DP). The chapter was extracted from the text file [white_jacket.txt](arke:01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY) as part of a structure extraction process.\n\n## Contents\nThe chapter details the somber ceremony of a burial at sea aboard a man-of-war. It recounts the announcement made by the boatswain, the assembly of officers and men, and the chaplain's recitation. The scene includes the presence of the Captain, bareheaded, and a boatswain's mate maintaining order. As Shenly's mess-mates commit the body to the deep, Jack Chase observes a white bird, interpreting it as Shenly's spirit ascending into the sky.\n","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:50:01.775Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"CHAPTER LXXXI. HOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA.","end_line":13114,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:39.667Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"CHAPTER LXXXI. HOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA.","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":13075,"text":"CHAPTER LXXXI.\r\nHOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA.\r\n\r\n\r\nQuarters over in the morning, the boatswain and his four mates stood\r\nround the main hatchway, and after giving the usual whistle, made the\r\ncustomary announcement—“_All hands bury the dead, ahoy!_”\r\n\r\nIn a man-of-war, every thing, even to a man’s funeral and burial,\r\nproceeds with the unrelenting promptitude of the martial code. And\r\nwhether it is _all hands bury the dead!_ or _all hands splice the\r\nmain-brace_, the order is given in the same hoarse tones.\r\n\r\nBoth officers and men assembled in the lee waist, and through that\r\nbareheaded crowd the mess-mates of Shenly brought his body to the same\r\ngangway where it had thrice winced under the scourge. But there is\r\nsomething in death that ennobles even a pauper’s corpse; and the\r\nCaptain himself stood bareheaded before the remains of a man whom, with\r\nhis hat on, he had sentenced to the ignominious gratings when alive.\r\n\r\n“_I am the resurrection and the life!_” solemnly began the Chaplain, in\r\nfull canonicals, the prayer-book in his hand.\r\n\r\n“Damn you! off those booms!” roared a boatswain’s mate to a crowd of\r\ntop-men, who had elevated themselves to gain a better view of the\r\nscene.\r\n\r\n“_We commit this body to the deep!_” At the word, Shenly’s mess-mates\r\ntilted the board, and the dead sailor sank in the sea.\r\n\r\n“Look aloft,” whispered Jack Chase. “See that bird! it is the spirit of\r\nShenly.”\r\n\r\nGazing upward, all beheld a snow-white, solitary fowl, which—whence\r\ncoming no one could tell—had been hovering over the main-mast during\r\nthe service, and was now sailing far up into the depths of the sky.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"CHAPTER LXXXI. HOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ","peer_type":"novel","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJVA0FZM38W2EYZDE9FV8","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJVWWVDQ6QHE55RMVH5DP","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:45.568Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:50:02.073Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}