44/45) "hidden " (l.23), "now hid " (l.58). But, as the narrator invites us to wonder, "what do all these phantoms amount to?"(l.27/28). Could the "lonely dwellings" "(l.47) of this the San Dominick shelter something of a deeper meaning?.
This description of the ship and her crew might indeed be reminiscent of the theme of the haunted house in Gothic fiction. Thus, the San Dominick becomes a place of exploration of the Unknown, and particularly of Delano's intricate mind, of which the sentence "vacant decks, beneath which prowled a hundred spears " (l.51) could be a metaphor. Penetrating it could be seen as a transgression, which could be alluded to through the mention of the sailor "robbing the trunks of the dead cabin passengers " (l.4/5) and the "pirates " (l.48). Furthermore, there is an idea of repulsion conveyed by the monstrous portrait of the Spanish crew and the black slaves, which could almost be interpreted as xenophobia. The theme of witchcraft, brought about by the terms "the ship" ( ) with enchanted sails " (l.21) and "the black wizards of Ashantee"" (l.15) evokes Massachusetts' past with the Salem witch trials. As Captain Delano comes from Massachusetts, it might not be a coincidence that he compares the black slaves to wizards. He also mentions "a hundred spears with yellow arms " (l.52) and the "Malay pirates " (l.48), which are both symbols of Indians. These references to witchcraft, to the threat of black slaves and Indians are all reminders of American History.
But repulsion is also paired with attraction, which is particularly visible through an antithesis (l.50): "entice boarders from a declared enemy at sea"." There is in fact a whole lexical field of sensuality, starting with the name of Delano's ship "the Bachelor's Delight " and other allusions: "heart-broken pretense " (l.45), "a dark deed had been done " (l.47), "silk-trimmed undershirts"" (l.4), "cherish any desire but for speedy relief and refreshment" " (l.