This question is based on Literary Principles. 'On the lower deck in the babel of two hundred voices he would forget himself, and beforehand live in his min...

Answer Details

The character in the passage is day-dreaming. He is on the lower deck, surrounded by a lot of noise from the other crew members, and he forgets himself while living in his mind the sea life of light literature. This indicates that he is lost in thought, imagining and fantasizing about stories he has read or heard about.