Spain in America III
Three caravels, a cross upon the prow,A broad cross on the banner and the sail,The liquid fields of Hesperus should ploughBorne by the leaping waters and the gale.Before that sign all hellish powers should quailTroubling the deep: no dragon's obscene crest,No serpent's slimy coils should aught avail,Till ivory cities looming in the westShould gleam from high Cathay or Araby the Blest.
Then, as with noble mien and debonairThe captains from the galleys leapt to land,Or down the temple's alabaster stairOr by the river's marge of silvery sand,Proud Sultans should descend with outstretched handGreeting the strangers, and by them apprisedOf Christ's redemption and the Queen's command,Being with joy and gratitude baptized,Should lavish gifts of price by rarest art devised.
Or if (since churls there be) they should demurTo some least point of fealty or faith,A champion, clad in arms from crest to spur,Should challenge the proud caitiffs to their deathAnd, singly felling them, from their last breathExtort confession that the Lord is lord,And India's Catholic queen, Elizabeth.Whereat yon turbaned tribes, with one accord,Should beat their heathen breasts and ope their treasures' hoard.
Or, if the worst should chance and high debatesShould end in insult and outrageous deed,And, many Christians rudely slain, their matesShould summon heaven to their direful need,Suddenly from the clouds a snow-white steedBearing a dazzling rider clad in flamesShould plunge into the fray: with instant speedRout all the foe at once, while mid acclaimsThe slaughtered braves should rise, crying, Saint James! Saint James!
Then, the day won, and its bright arbiterVanished, save for peace he left behind,Each in his private bosom should bestirHis dearest dream: as that perchance there pinedSome lovely maiden of angelic mindIn those dark towers, awaiting out of SpainTwo Saviours that her horoscope divinedShould thence arrive. She (womanlike) were fainNot to be wholly free, but wear a chosen chain.
That should be youth's adventure. Riper daysWould crave the guerdon of a prouder powerAnd pluck their nuggets from an earthly mazeFor rule and dignity and children's dower.And age that thought to near the fatal hourShould to a magic fount descend instead,Whose waters with the fruit revive the flowerAnd deck in all its bloom the ashen head,Where a green heaven spreads, not peopled of the dead.
Words in this poem 21
- hesperus n.
- Venus when she is the evening star; Hesper. [L. See Hesper.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- looming n.
- The indistinct and magnified appearance of objects seen in particular states of the atmosphere. See Mirage.
- araby n.
- The country of Arabia.
- debonair a.
- Characterized by courteousness, affability, or gentleness; of good appearance and manners; graceful; complaisant. [OE. debonere, OF. de bon aire, debonaire, of good descent or lineage, excellent, debonair, F. débonnaire debonair; de of (L. de) + bon good (L. bonus) + aire. S]
- marge n.
- Border; margin; edge; verge. [F. marge. See Margin.]
- demur v. i.
- To linger; to stay; to tarry. [OF. demurer, demorer, demourer, to linger, stay, F. demeurer, fr. L. demorari; de- + morari to delay, tarry, stay, mora delay; prob. originally, time for thinki]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- turbaned a.
- Wearing a turban.
- outrageous a.
- Of the nature of an outrage; exceeding the limits of right, reason, or decency; involving or doing an outrage; furious; violent; atrocious. [OF. outrageus, F. outrageux. See Outrage, n.]
- direful a.
- Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; woeful; as, a direful fiend; a direful day. [Dire + -ful.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- bestir v. t.
- To put into brisk or vigorous action; to move with life and vigor; -- usually with the reciprocal pronoun.
- womanlike a.
- Like a woman; womanly.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- peopled a.
- Stocked with, or as with, people; inhabited.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Spain in America III is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #49721; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George Santayana, Spain in America III, in Poems (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49721, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/santayana-poems/spain-in-america-iii.html, id L21751.
Form and metre
Spain in America III is 54 lines in 6 stanzas of 9 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCBCC, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas; the stanza is the Spenserian stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in the Spenserian stanza, 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 ABABBCBCC prowA · sailB · ploughA · galeB · quailB · crestC · availB · westC · blestC
- 2 ABABBCBCC debonairA · landB · stairA · sandB · handB · apprisedC · commandB · baptizedC · devisedC
- 3 A-ABBCBCC demurA · faith · spurA · deathB · breathB · lordC · elizabethB · accordC · hoardC
- 4 ABABBCBCC debatesA · deedB · matesA · needB · steedB · flamesC · speedB · acclaimsC · jamesC
- 5 -A-AABABB arbiter · behindA · bestir · pinedA · mindA · spainB · divinedA · fainB · chainB
- 6 ABA-BCBCC daysA · powerB · mazeA · dower · hourB · insteadC · flowerB · headC · deadC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Three caravels, a cross upon the prow, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A broad cross on the banner and the sail, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The liquid fields of Hesperus should plough | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Borne by the leaping waters and the gale. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Before that sign all hellish powers should quail | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| Troubling the deep: no dragon's obscene crest, | 10 | /˘···/˘˘/· |
| No serpent's slimy coils should aught avail, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Till ivory cities looming in the west | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Should gleam from high Cathay or Araby the Blest. | 12 | ····˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Then, as with noble mien and debonair | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The captains from the galleys leapt to land, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Or down the temple's alabaster stair | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘· |
| Or by the river's marge of silvery sand, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Proud Sultans should descend with outstretched hand | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·˘/· |
| Greeting the strangers, and by them apprised | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| Of Christ's redemption and the Queen's command, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Being with joy and gratitude baptized, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Should lavish gifts of price by rarest art devised. | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·˘/ |
| Or if (since churls there be) they should demur | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To some least point of fealty or faith, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| A champion, clad in arms from crest to spur, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Should challenge the proud caitiffs to their death | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And, singly felling them, from their last breath | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Extort confession that the Lord is lord, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| And India's Catholic queen, Elizabeth. | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Whereat yon turbaned tribes, with one accord, | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| Should beat their heathen breasts and ope their treasures' hoard. | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Or, if the worst should chance and high debates | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Should end in insult and outrageous deed, | 10 | ···/··˘/˘· |
| And, many Christians rudely slain, their mates | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Should summon heaven to their direful need, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Suddenly from the clouds a snow-white steed | 10 | /˘˘······· |
| Bearing a dazzling rider clad in flames | 10 | /˘·/˘˘/··· |
| Should plunge into the fray: with instant speed | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Rout all the foe at once, while mid acclaims | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The slaughtered braves should rise, crying, Saint James! Saint James! | 12 | ·/˘···/˘···· |
| Then, the day won, and its bright arbiter | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Vanished, save for peace he left behind, | 10 | /˘˘······· |
| Each in his private bosom should bestir | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| His dearest dream: as that perchance there pined | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Some lovely maiden of angelic mind | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| In those dark towers, awaiting out of Spain | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Two Saviours that her horoscope divined | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Should thence arrive. She (womanlike) were fain | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Not to be wholly free, but wear a chosen chain. | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| That should be youth's adventure. Riper days | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Would crave the guerdon of a prouder power | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And pluck their nuggets from an earthly maze | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For rule and dignity and children's dower. | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| And age that thought to near the fatal hour | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Should to a magic fount descend instead, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Whose waters with the fruit revive the flower | 11 | ·/˘···˘/·/˘ |
| And deck in all its bloom the ashen head, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where a green heaven spreads, not peopled of the dead. | 11 | ···/··/˘··· |
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.