The Song of Diego Valdez
The God of Fair BeginningsHath prospered here my hand--The cargoes of my lading,And the keels of my command.For out of many venturesThat sailed with hope as high,My own have made the better trade,And Admiral am I!
To me my King’s much honour,To me my people’s love--To me the pride of PrincesAnd power all pride above;To me the shouting cities,To me the mob’s refrain:--‘Who knows not noble Valdez,Hath never heard of Spain.’
But I remember comrades--Old playmates on new seas--Whenas we traded orpimentAmong the savages--A thousand leagues to south’ardAnd thirty years removed--They knew not noble Valdez,But me they knew and loved.
Then they that found good liquor,They drank it not alone,And they that found fair plunder,They told us every one,About our chosen islandsOr secret shoals between,When, walty from far voyage,We gathered to careen.
There burned our breaming-fagotsAll pale along the shore:There rose our worn pavilions--A sail above an oar:As flashed each yearning anchorThrough mellow seas afire,So swift our careless captainsRowed each to his desire.
Where lay our loosened harness?Where turned our naked feet?Whose tavern ’mid the palm-trees?What quenchings of what heat?Oh fountain in the desert!Oh cistern in the waste!Oh bread we ate in secret!Oh cup we spilled in haste!
The youth new-taught of longing,The widow curbed and wan--The goodwife proud at season,And the maid aware of man;All souls unslaked, consuming,Defrauded in delays,Desire not more their quittanceThan I those forfeit days!
I dreamed to wait my pleasureUnchanged my spring would bide:Wherefore, to wait my pleasure,I put my spring asideTill, first in face of Fortune,And last in mazed disdain,I made Diego ValdezHigh Admiral of Spain.
Then walked no wind ’neath HeavenNor surge that did not aid--I dared extreme occasion,Nor ever one betrayed.They wrought a deeper treason--(Led seas that served my needs!)They sold Diego ValdezTo bondage of great deeds.
The tempest flung me seaward,And pinned and bade me holdThe course I might not alter--And men esteemed me bold!The calms embayed my quarry,The fog-wreath sealed his eyes;The dawn-wind brought my topsails--And men esteemed me wise!
Yet ’spite my tyrant triumphsBewildered, dispossessed--My dream held I before me--My vision of my rest;But, crowned by Fleet and People,And bound by King and Pope--Stands here Diego ValdezTo rob me of my hope!
No prayer of mine shall move him,No word of his set freeThe Lord of Sixty PennantsAnd the Steward of the Sea.His will can loose ten thousandTo seek their loves again--But not Diego Valdez,High Admiral of Spain.
There walks no wind ’neath HeavenNor wave that shall restoreThe old careening riotAnd the clamorous, crowded shore--The fountain in the desert,The cistern in the waste,The bread we ate in secret,The cup we spilled in haste!
Now call I to my Captains--For council fly the sign,Now leap their zealous galleysTwelve-oared across the brine.To me the straiter prison,To me the heavier chain--To me Diego Valdez,High Admiral of Spain!
Words in this poem 15
- keels n.
- Ninepins. See Kayles.
- 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.]
- traded a.
- Professional; practiced.
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- walty a.
- Liable to roll over; crank; as, a walty ship. [Cf. Walter to roll.]
- careen v. t.
- To cause (a vessel) to lean over so that she floats on one side, leaving the other side out of water and accessible for repairs below the water line; to case to be off the keel. [OF. cariner, F. caréner, fr. OF. carène, the bottom of a ship, keel, fr. L. carina.]
- goodwife n.
- The mistress of a house. Robynson (More's Utopia).
- unslaked a.
- Not slaked; unslacked; as, an unslaked thirst; unslaked lime.
- quittance v. t.
- To repay; to requite.
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- seaward a.
- Directed or situated toward the sea. Donne.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Song of Diego Valdez is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Five Nations, Volume I, Project Gutenberg ebook #60260; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, The Song of Diego Valdez, in The Five Nations, Volume I (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60260, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-five-nations-1/the-song-of-diego-valdez.html, id L20230.
Form and metre
The Song of Diego Valdez is 112 lines in 14 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 beginnings · handA · lading · commandA · ventures · highB · trade · iB
- 2 -ABABCBC honour · loveA · princesB · aboveA · citiesB · refrainC · valdezB · spainC
- 3 -A-A--A- comrades · seasA · orpiment · savagesA · south'ard · removed · valdezA · loved
- 4 -----A-A liquor · alone · plunder · one · islands · betweenA · voyage · careenA
- 5 -A-A---- fagots · shoreA · pavilions · oarA · anchor · afire · captains · desire
- 6 -A-AABAB harness · feetA · trees · heatA · desertA · wasteB · secretA · hasteB
- 7 -AAA-B-B longing · wanA · seasonA · manA · consuming · delaysB · quittance · daysB
- 8 ABABCC-C pleasureA · bideB · pleasureA · asideB · fortuneC · disdainC · valdez · spainC
- 9 -A-A-B-B heaven · aidA · occasion · betrayedA · treason · needsB · valdez · deedsB
- 10 -A-A-B-B seaward · holdA · alter · boldA · quarry · eyesB · topsails · wiseB
- 11 -A-A-B-B triumphs · dispossessedA · me · restA · people · popeB · valdez · hopeB
- 12 -A-A-B-B him · freeA · pennants · seaA · thousand · againB · valdez · spainB
- 13 -A-A-B-B heaven · restoreA · riot · shoreA · desert · wasteB · secret · hasteB
- 14 -ABAACBC captains · signA · galleysB · brineA · prisonA · chainC · valdezB · spainC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The God of Fair Beginnings | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Hath prospered here my hand-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The cargoes of my lading, | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| And the keels of my command. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| For out of many ventures | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| That sailed with hope as high, | 6 | ······ |
| My own have made the better trade, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And Admiral am I! | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| To me my King’s much honour, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To me my people’s love-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To me the pride of Princes | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And power all pride above; | 6 | ·/···· |
| To me the shouting cities, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| To me the mob’s refrain:-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| ‘Who knows not noble Valdez, | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Hath never heard of Spain.’ | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But I remember comrades-- | 7 | ··˘/˘/· |
| Old playmates on new seas-- | 6 | ·/···· |
| Whenas we traded orpiment | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Among the savages-- | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| A thousand leagues to south’ard | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And thirty years removed-- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| They knew not noble Valdez, | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| But me they knew and loved. | 6 | ······ |
| Then they that found good liquor, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| They drank it not alone, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And they that found fair plunder, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| They told us every one, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| About our chosen islands | 7 | ··//˘/˘ |
| Or secret shoals between, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When, walty from far voyage, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| We gathered to careen. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| There burned our breaming-fagots | 7 | ··//˘·· |
| All pale along the shore: | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| There rose our worn pavilions-- | 7 | ··/·˘/˘ |
| A sail above an oar: | 6 | ······ |
| As flashed each yearning anchor | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Through mellow seas afire, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| So swift our careless captains | 7 | ··//˘/˘ |
| Rowed each to his desire. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Where lay our loosened harness? | 7 | ··//˘/˘ |
| Where turned our naked feet? | 6 | ··//˘· |
| Whose tavern ’mid the palm-trees? | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| What quenchings of what heat? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Oh fountain in the desert! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Oh cistern in the waste! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Oh bread we ate in secret! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Oh cup we spilled in haste! | 6 | ······ |
| The youth new-taught of longing, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The widow curbed and wan-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The goodwife proud at season, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And the maid aware of man; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| All souls unslaked, consuming, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Defrauded in delays, | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| Desire not more their quittance | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| Than I those forfeit days! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I dreamed to wait my pleasure | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Unchanged my spring would bide: | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Wherefore, to wait my pleasure, | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| I put my spring aside | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Till, first in face of Fortune, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And last in mazed disdain, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I made Diego Valdez | 7 | ··˘/˘˘/ |
| High Admiral of Spain. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Then walked no wind ’neath Heaven | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Nor surge that did not aid-- | 6 | ······ |
| I dared extreme occasion, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Nor ever one betrayed. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| They wrought a deeper treason-- | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| (Led seas that served my needs!) | 6 | ······ |
| They sold Diego Valdez | 7 | ··˘/˘˘/ |
| To bondage of great deeds. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The tempest flung me seaward, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And pinned and bade me hold | 6 | ······ |
| The course I might not alter-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And men esteemed me bold! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The calms embayed my quarry, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The fog-wreath sealed his eyes; | 6 | ······ |
| The dawn-wind brought my topsails-- | 7 | ······· |
| And men esteemed me wise! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Yet ’spite my tyrant triumphs | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Bewildered, dispossessed-- | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| My dream held I before me-- | 7 | ······· |
| My vision of my rest; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But, crowned by Fleet and People, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And bound by King and Pope-- | 6 | ······ |
| Stands here Diego Valdez | 7 | ··˘/˘˘/ |
| To rob me of my hope! | 6 | ······ |
| No prayer of mine shall move him, | 7 | ······· |
| No word of his set free | 6 | ······ |
| The Lord of Sixty Pennants | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And the Steward of the Sea. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| His will can loose ten thousand | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To seek their loves again-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But not Diego Valdez, | 7 | ··˘/˘˘/ |
| High Admiral of Spain. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| There walks no wind ’neath Heaven | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Nor wave that shall restore | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The old careening riot | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| And the clamorous, crowded shore-- | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| The fountain in the desert, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| The cistern in the waste, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The bread we ate in secret, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The cup we spilled in haste! | 6 | ······ |
| Now call I to my Captains-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For council fly the sign, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Now leap their zealous galleys | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Twelve-oared across the brine. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| To me the straiter prison, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To me the heavier chain-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To me Diego Valdez, | 7 | ··˘/˘˘/ |
| High Admiral of Spain! | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
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.