"Here Venus never smiles; nor Bacchus grins; nor beams the intelligence of Mercury. Oh gentle Herald that I could fly with thee!"
-- June 1851 Scenes Beyond the Western Border; and Scenes and Adventures in the Army
"... a pensive face angelic, downward beaming; and, for one golden moment, gauze-vailed in spangled Berenice’s Locks." --Mardi: And a Voyage Thither
But high above the flying scud and dark-rolling clouds, there floated a little isle of sunlight, from which beamed forth an angel's face; and this bright face shed a distinct spot of radiance upon the ship's tossed deck, something like that silver plate now inserted into the Victory's plank where Nelson fell. "Ah, noble ship," the angel seemed to say, "beat on, beat on, thou noble ship, and bear a hardy helm; for lo! the sun is breaking through; the clouds are rolling off—serenest azure is at hand." --Moby Dick, The Pulpit
The beaming part is optional. For example, in his
Pulpit Portraits John Dix Ross described the painted angel behind Father Taylor (Melville's model) without any reference to its face or countenance:
High over the mast-head are dark storm-clouds, from one of which a remarkably small angel is seen, with outstretched arms, — the celestial individual having just flung down a golden anchor bigger than itself, to aid the ship in her extremity, we presume, although there is attached to the said anchor but a few inches of California cable, which for any practical purpose would not be of the slightest use. --as quoted in the Life of Father Taylor
Beam me up Scotty!
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