Columbus
Behind him lay the gray Azores,Behind the gates of Hercules;Before him not the ghost of shores,Before him only shoreless seas.The good mate said: “Now must we pray,For lo! the very stars are gone;Speak, Admiral, what shall I say?”“Why say, sail on! and on!”
“My men grow mut’nous day by day;My men grow ghastly wan and weak.”The stout mate thought of home; a sprayOf salt wave wash’d his swarthy cheek.“What shall I say, brave Admiral,If we sight naught but seas at dawn?”“Why, you shall say, at break of day:‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’”
They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,Until at last the blanch’d mate said;“Why, now, not even God would knowShould I and all my men fall dead.These very winds forget their way,For God from these dread seas is gone.Now speak, brave Admiral, and say----”He said: “Sail on! and on!”
They sailed, they sailed, then spoke his mate:“This mad sea shows his teeth to-night,He curls his lip, he lies in wait,With lifted teeth as if to bite!Brave Admiral, say but one word;What shall we do when hope is gone?”The words leaped as a leaping sword:“Sail on! sail on! and on!”
Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck,And thro’ the darkness peered that night.Ah, darkest night! and then a speck,--A light! a light! a light! a light!It grew--a star-lit flag unfurled!It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn;He gained a world! he gave that worldIts watch-word: “On! and on!”
Words in this poem
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- shoreless a.
- Having no shore or coast; of indefinite or unlimited extent; as, a shoreless ocean. Young.
- 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,]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Columbus is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, Columbus, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/columbus.html, id L25259.
Form and metre
Columbus is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 ABABCDCD azoresA · herculesB · shoresA · seasB · prayC · goneD · sayC · onD
- 2 ABAB-CAC dayA · weakB · sprayA · cheekB · admiral · dawnC · dayA · onC
- 3 ABABCDCD blowA · saidB · knowA · deadB · wayC · goneD · sayC · onD
- 4 ABABCDCD mateA · nightB · waitA · biteB · wordC · goneD · swordC · onD
- 5 ABABCDCD deckA · nightB · speckA · lightB · unfurledC · dawnD · worldC · onD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Behind him lay the gray Azores, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Behind the gates of Hercules; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Before him not the ghost of shores, | 8 | ········ |
| Before him only shoreless seas. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The good mate said: “Now must we pray, | 8 | ········ |
| For lo! the very stars are gone; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Speak, Admiral, what shall I say?” | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| “Why say, sail on! and on!” | 6 | ······ |
| “My men grow mut’nous day by day; | 8 | ········ |
| My men grow ghastly wan and weak.” | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The stout mate thought of home; a spray | 8 | ········ |
| Of salt wave wash’d his swarthy cheek. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| “What shall I say, brave Admiral, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| If we sight naught but seas at dawn?” | 8 | ········ |
| “Why, you shall say, at break of day: | 8 | ········ |
| ‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’” | 6 | ······ |
| They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, | 8 | ········ |
| Until at last the blanch’d mate said; | 8 | ········ |
| “Why, now, not even God would know | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Should I and all my men fall dead. | 8 | ········ |
| These very winds forget their way, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| For God from these dread seas is gone. | 8 | ········ |
| Now speak, brave Admiral, and say----” | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| He said: “Sail on! and on!” | 6 | ······ |
| They sailed, they sailed, then spoke his mate: | 8 | ········ |
| “This mad sea shows his teeth to-night, | 8 | ········ |
| He curls his lip, he lies in wait, | 8 | ········ |
| With lifted teeth as if to bite! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Brave Admiral, say but one word; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| What shall we do when hope is gone?” | 8 | ········ |
| The words leaped as a leaping sword: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| “Sail on! sail on! and on!” | 6 | ······ |
| Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, | 8 | ········ |
| And thro’ the darkness peered that night. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ah, darkest night! and then a speck,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A light! a light! a light! a light! | 8 | ········ |
| It grew--a star-lit flag unfurled! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn; | 8 | ········ |
| He gained a world! he gave that world | 8 | ········ |
| Its watch-word: “On! and on!” | 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.