Ferdinand
To fifteen sail your charge shall be augmented:Hasten to Palos, and prepare againTo sail in quest of this fine golden country,The Ophir, never known to Solomon;Which shall be held the brightest gem we have,The richest diamond in the crown of Spain.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- solomon n.
- One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ferdinand is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 1 (of 3), Project Gutenberg ebook #38475; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Philip Freneau, Ferdinand, in Poems (1786–1815), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38475, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/freneau-poems/ferdinand-2.html, id L12723.
Form and metre
Ferdinand is 6 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A-A augmented · againA · country · solomonA · have · spainA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| To fifteen sail your charge shall be augmented: | 11 | ·//·····˘/˘ |
| Hasten to Palos, and prepare again | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| To sail in quest of this fine golden country, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| The Ophir, never known to Solomon; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Which shall be held the brightest gem we have, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The richest diamond in the crown of Spain. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.