Columbus

The poem is set on Columbus’s ship during his voyage to the New World in 1492. The ship is described as occupying what appears to be an “in-between” state between the known and the unknown, with the Old World somewhere far behind the ship (“Behind him lay the gray Azores / behind the gates of Hercules” (Lines 1-2)) and the vast unknown stretching before the ship (“Before him only shoreless seas” (Line 4)). This liminal setting serves two functions. First, it allows the speaker to reimagine an important moment in European history and to create a sense of tension building until the moment dawn breaks and Columbus finally sees land. Second, it gives the setting a metaphorical significance, as the ship and its voyage are a stand-in for the many adversities a person may have to face and overcome during the course of life—especially when in pursuit of a particularly worthwhile goal.

The poem’s use of refrains and the repetition of certain words, such as Columbus’s variations of “‘Sail on!’” in each stanza and the line hailing “A light! a light! a light! a light!” (Line 36) in the poem’s fifth stanza, creates a sense of momentum within the poem while also reinforcing its key themes and symbols. Since the most important theme in the poem is the importance of resilience in the face of hardship, the repetition of “‘Sail on!’” removes any ambiguity, giving the reader a clear moral lesson. Repetition thus enables the speaker to emphasize what they consider to be the poem’s key point.

There are two major allusions to Greek mythology and the world of its classical heroes in “Columbus.” The first is the more obvious one, when the speaker mentions “the gates”—or Pillars—“of Hercules” (Line 2), which is an allusion to the myth of Hercules’s Twelve Labors in which the demigod performed miraculous feats thanks to his endurance and determination. This allusion creates a link between the epic adventures of the Greek heroes and the voyage Columbus is currently undertaking in the poem, suggesting that Columbus, like Hercules, is a type of hero.

The more subtle allusion is found in the mate’s use of the word “dread”: “For God from these dread seas is gone” (Line 22). Using dread as an adjective is an allusion to one of the literary devices used by Homer in his epic tales of Trojan heroes (The Iliad and The Odyssey), as its adjective form—dreaded—frequently appears in the epics to describe people or things that inspire awe and fear in others. The mate’s use of this phrasing thus helps to elevate the subject matter of the poem, once more stressing the epic quality of Columbus’s undertaking.

As mentioned above in the Symbols and Motifs section, virtually all of the essential elements in the poem function on both literal and metaphorical levels, turning the poem into a sort of allegory for what people can achieve when they refuse to give up hope despite setbacks, hurdles, or even abject danger. Columbus’s ship—and Columbus himself—represent a person’s goals and dreams, while the voyage symbolizes the many things a person must endure in order to achieve something meaningful. The mate and his pragmatic objections symbolize the doubts a person may encounter both from others and within themself in trying to achieve a goal. The stormy weather and unfavorable conditions of the voyage suggest the hardships and dangers someone may face in trying to achieve something or in surviving an especially difficult situation. And finally, the light at the poem’s end—and the New World it reveals—symbolize the ultimate triumph that ideally awaits anyone who continues to “Sail on!” undaunted in pursuit of their dream.