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The Glory of Ships

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) · 1925

anapaestic trimeter · 54 lines · from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke

The glory of ships is an old, old song,since the days when the sea-rovers ran,In their open boats through the roaring surf,and the spread of the world began;The glory of ships is a light on the sea,and a star in the story of man.

When Homer sang of the galleys of Greecethat conquered the Trojan shore,And Solomon lauded the barks of Tyrethat brought great wealth to his door,'Twas little they knew, those ancient men,what would come of the sail and the oar.

The Greek ships rescued the West from the East,when they harried the Persians home;And the Roman ships were the wings of strengththat bore up the empire, Rome;And the ships of Spain found a wide new world,far over the fields of foam.

Then the tribes of courage at last saw clearthat the ocean was not a bound,But a broad highway, and a challenge to seekfor treasure as yet unfound;So the fearless ships fared forth to the search,in joy that the globe was round.

Their hulls were heightened, their sails spread out,they grew with the growth of their quest;They opened the secret doors of the East,and the golden gates of the West;And many a city of high renownwas proud of a ship on its crest.

The fleets of England and Holland and Francewere at strife with each other and Spain;And battle and storm sent a myriad shipsto sleep in the depths of the main;But the seafaring spirit could never be drowned,and it filled up the fleets again.

They greatened and grew, with the aid of steam,to a wonderful, vast array,That carries the thoughts and the traffic of meninto every harbor and bay;And now in the world-wide work of the ships'tis England that leads the way.

O well for the leading that follows the lawof a common right on the sea!But ill for the leader who tries to holdwhat belongs to mankind in fee!The way of the ships is an open way,and the ocean must ever be free!

Remember, O first of the maritime folk,how the rise of your greatness began.It will live if you safeguard the round-the-world roadfrom the shame of a selfish ban;For the glory of ships is a light on the sea,and a star in the story of man!

Words in this poem

solomon n.: One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man.
tyre n.: Attire. See 2d and 3d Tire.
wealth n.: Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
myriad n.: The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
seafaring a.: Following the business of a mariner; as, a seafaring man.
folk n.: In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
safeguard n.: One who, or that which, defends or protects; defense; protection. [Safe = guard: cf. F. sauvegarde.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Glory of Ships is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, The Glory of Ships, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-glory-of-ships.html, id L22937.

Form and metre

The Glory of Ships is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).

See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.

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 song · ran^A · surf · began^A · sea · man^A
2 -A-A-A greece · shore^A · tyre · door^A · men · oar^A
3 -A-A-A east · home^A · strength · rome^A · world · foam^A
4 -A-A-A clear · bound^A · seek · unfound^A · search · round^A
5 -A-A-A out · quest^A · east · west^A · renown · crest^A
6 -A-A-A france · spain^A · ships · main^A · drowned · again^A
7 -A-A-A steam · array^A · men · bay^A · ships · way^A
8 -A-A-A law · sea^A · hold · fee^A · way · free^A
9 -A-A-A folk · began^A · road · ban^A · sea · man^A

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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
The glory of ships is an old, old song,	10	·/˘·······
since the days when the sea-rovers ran,	9	······/˘·
In their open boats through the roaring surf,	10	··/˘···/˘·
and the spread of the world began;	8	······˘/
The glory of ships is a light on the sea,	11	·/˘········
and a star in the story of man.	9	·····/˘··
When Homer sang of the galleys of Greece	10	·/˘···/˘··
that conquered the Trojan shore,	7	·/˘·/˘·
And Solomon lauded the barks of Tyre	10	·/˘˘/˘····
that brought great wealth to his door,	7	·······
'Twas little they knew, those ancient men,	9	·/˘···/˘·
what would come of the sail and the oar.	9	·········
The Greek ships rescued the West from the East,	10	···/˘·····
when they harried the Persians home;	8	··/˘·/˘·
And the Roman ships were the wings of strength	10	··/˘······
that bore up the empire, Rome;	8	····/˘˘·
And the ships of Spain found a wide new world,	10	··········
far over the fields of foam.	7	·······
Then the tribes of courage at last saw clear	10	····/˘····
that the ocean was not a bound,	8	··/˘····
But a broad highway, and a challenge to seek	11	···/···/˘··
for treasure as yet unfound;	7	·/˘····
So the fearless ships fared forth to the search,	10	··/˘······
in joy that the globe was round.	7	·······
Their hulls were heightened, their sails spread out,	10	···/˘˘····
they grew with the growth of their quest;	8	········
They opened the secret doors of the East,	10	·/˘·/˘····
and the golden gates of the West;	8	··/˘····
And many a city of high renown	10	·/˘·/˘··˘/
was proud of a ship on its crest.	8	········
The fleets of England and Holland and France	10	···/˘·/˘··
were at strife with each other and Spain;	9	·····/˘··
And battle and storm sent a myriad ships	10	·/˘····/˘·
to sleep in the depths of the main;	8	········
But the seafaring spirit could never be drowned,	10	··/˘/·/˘··
and it filled up the fleets again.	9	···˘···˘/
They greatened and grew, with the aid of steam,	10	··········
to a wonderful, vast array,	8	··/˘˘·˘/
That carries the thoughts and the traffic of men	11	·/˘····/˘··
into every harbor and bay;	9	··/˘˘/˘··
And now in the world-wide work of the ships	10	··········
'tis England that leads the way.	7	·/˘····
O well for the leading that follows the law	11	····/˘·/˘··
of a common right on the sea!	8	··/˘····
But ill for the leader who tries to hold	10	····/˘····
what belongs to mankind in fee!	8	·˘/·//··
The way of the ships is an open way,	10	·······/˘·
and the ocean must ever be free!	9	··/˘·/˘··
Remember, O first of the maritime folk,	11	˘/˘····/˘··
how the rise of your greatness began.	9	·····/˘˘/
It will live if you safeguard the round-the-world road	12	·····/······
from the shame of a selfish ban;	8	·····/˘·
For the glory of ships is a light on the sea,	12	··/˘········
and a star in the story of man!	9	·····/˘··

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.

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