The Pictures of Columbus: Picture IV
Prince and the pride of Spain! while meaner crowns,Pleas'd with the shadow of monarchial sway,Exact obedience from some paltry tractScarce worth the pain and toil of governing,Be thine the generous care to send thy fameBeyond the knowledge, or the guess of man.This gulphy deep (that bounds our western reignSo long by civil feuds and wars disgrac'd)Must be the passage to some other shoreWhere nations dwell, children of early time,Basking in the warm sunshine of the south,Who some false deity, no doubt, adore,Owning no virtue in the potent cross:What honour, sire, to plant your standards there,And souls recover to our holy faithThat now in paths of dark perdition strayWarp'd to his worship by the evil one!Think not that Europe and the Asian waste,Or Africa, where barren sands abound,Are the sole gems in Neptune's bosom laid:Think not the world a vast extended plain:See yond' bright orbs, that through the ether move,All globular; this earth a globe like themWalks her own rounds, attended by the moon,Bright comrade, but with borrowed lustre bright.If all the surface of this mighty roundBe one wide ocean of unfathom'd depthBounding the little space already known,Nature must have forgot her wonted witAnd made a monstrous havock of proportion.If her proud depths were not restrain'd by lands,And broke by continents of vast extentExisting somewhere under western skies,Far other waves would roll before the stormsThan ever yet have burst on Europe's shores,Driving before them deluge and confusion.But Nature will preserve what she has plann'd:And the whole suffrage of antiquity,Platonic dreams, and reason's plainer pageAll point at something that we ought to seeBuried behind the waters of the west,Clouded with shadows of uncertainty.The time is come for some sublime eventOf mighty fame:--mankind are children yet,And hardly dream what treasures they possessIn the dark bosom of the fertile main,Unfathom'd, unattempted, unexplor'd.These, mighty prince, I offer to reveal,And by the magnet's aid, if you supplyShips and some gallant hearts, will hope to bringFrom distant climes, news worthy of a king.
Words in this poem 15
- monarchial a.
- Monarchic. Burke.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- perdition n.
- Entire loss; utter destruction; ruin; esp., the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. [F., fr. L. perditio, fr. perdere, perditum, to ruin, to lose; per (cf. Skr. para away) + -dere (only in comp.) to put; akin to Gr. do. See Do.]
- asian a.
- Of or pertaining to Asia; Asiatic. [L. Asianus, Gr. Asia.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Pictures of Columbus: Picture IV 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, The Pictures of Columbus: Picture IV, in Columbus to Ferdinand, and other poems (1786–1815), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38475, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/freneau-poems/the-pictures-of-columbus-picture-iv.html, id L26050.
Form and metre
The Pictures of Columbus: Picture IV is 51 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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---------------B-B-------------------CC crowns · sway · tract · governing · fame · man · reign · disgrac'd · shoreA · time · south · adoreA · cross · there · faith · stray · one · waste · abound · laid · plain · move · them · moon · bright · round · depth · knownB · wit · proportionB · lands · extent · skies · storms · shores · confusion · plann'd · antiquity · page · see · west · uncertainty · event · yet · possess · main · unexplor'd · reveal · supply · bringC · kingC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Prince and the pride of Spain! while meaner crowns, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Pleas'd with the shadow of monarchial sway, | 11 | ···/··˘/˘˘· |
| Exact obedience from some paltry tract | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Scarce worth the pain and toil of governing, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Be thine the generous care to send thy fame | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Beyond the knowledge, or the guess of man. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| This gulphy deep (that bounds our western reign | 10 | ······//˘· |
| So long by civil feuds and wars disgrac'd) | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Must be the passage to some other shore | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Where nations dwell, children of early time, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Basking in the warm sunshine of the south, | 10 | /˘···/···· |
| Who some false deity, no doubt, adore, | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| Owning no virtue in the potent cross: | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| What honour, sire, to plant your standards there, | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| And souls recover to our holy faith | 10 | ··˘/˘·//˘· |
| That now in paths of dark perdition stray | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Warp'd to his worship by the evil one! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Think not that Europe and the Asian waste, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Or Africa, where barren sands abound, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Are the sole gems in Neptune's bosom laid: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Think not the world a vast extended plain: | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| See yond' bright orbs, that through the ether move, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| All globular; this earth a globe like them | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Walks her own rounds, attended by the moon, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Bright comrade, but with borrowed lustre bright. | 10 | ·/···/·/˘· |
| If all the surface of this mighty round | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Be one wide ocean of unfathom'd depth | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Bounding the little space already known, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Nature must have forgot her wonted wit | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| And made a monstrous havock of proportion. | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| If her proud depths were not restrain'd by lands, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And broke by continents of vast extent | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| Existing somewhere under western skies, | 10 | ˘/˘/···/˘· |
| Far other waves would roll before the storms | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Than ever yet have burst on Europe's shores, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Driving before them deluge and confusion. | 11 | /˘···/˘·˘/˘ |
| But Nature will preserve what she has plann'd: | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| And the whole suffrage of antiquity, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Platonic dreams, and reason's plainer page | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| All point at something that we ought to see | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Buried behind the waters of the west, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Clouded with shadows of uncertainty. | 10 | /˘·/··˘/˘˘ |
| The time is come for some sublime event | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Of mighty fame:--mankind are children yet, | 10 | ·/˘·//·/˘· |
| And hardly dream what treasures they possess | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| In the dark bosom of the fertile main, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Unfathom'd, unattempted, unexplor'd. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| These, mighty prince, I offer to reveal, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| And by the magnet's aid, if you supply | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Ships and some gallant hearts, will hope to bring | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| From distant climes, news worthy of a king. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
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