all was hush'd

I find a letter in the mailbox. A single sheet of paper is inside. Written out by hand is a careful description of a man slowly drowning. It is (I look it up) from Byron's "Don Juan, Canto the Second."
And first one universal shriek there rush'd,
Louder than the loud ocean, like a crash
Of echoing thunder; and then all was hush'd,
Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash
Of billows; but at intervals there gush'd,
Accompanied by a convulsive splash,
A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry
Of some strong swimmer in his agony.

-- You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr

The poem's text may be off a little from how it actually appears in the book. I was reading this section while in a car in Malaysia, and figured I could just look up the poem at home. Well, the two versions I've looked at are very similar - just one small word differed. The one that appears above is from this page.