All lost! To prayers, to prayers! All lost!
– William Shakespeare
The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 1. The Mariners all believe that their ship is going to sink in the storm. They feel that their only hope of salvation is to pray. We learn later that the tempest is not a natural phenomenon. It has been magically conjured by Prospero, the overthrown Duke of Milan, who uses it to bring the ship to the island, which he now rules.